POS hardware lock-in: the cost you only see in year three

The hardware question looks like a detail during the sales process and becomes a structural constraint afterwards. Here are the four models on sale in Saudi Arabia and what each one actually commits you to.

Model 1: single-platform (Foodics — iOS)

You buy iPads, from Apple or a reseller, at retail.

• When a terminal dies: replace at retail price. No fleet rate unless you negotiate one.
• When you open a branch: more iPads, at whatever iPads cost that quarter.
• When iPadOS support ends: eventually a device stops receiving OS updates and stops being a supported terminal, regardless of whether it still works.
• Advantage: a consistent, well-understood platform, good build quality, familiar to staff.

Model 2: single-vendor device (Marn — Sunmi; Geidea and Hala — their own)

The device comes from the POS vendor, sometimes at no up-front cost.

• When a terminal dies: you depend on the vendor's RMA process and their stock.
• When you open a branch: the vendor supplies, at their price and their timeline.
• When you want to leave: if the device was free against a contract, leaving early usually means paying out the term or returning the hardware. Either way the device is not yours to repurpose.
• Advantage: one supplier, one support number, low or zero day-one cost.

Model 3: bring your own (Revel — iPad)

You supply the hardware, the vendor supplies the software.

• When a terminal dies: your problem, at retail.
• Advantage: no vendor hardware margin.
• Reality check: this is still a lock. It is an iPad lock with the purchasing moved to you, which is better on price and identical on platform constraint.

Model 4: hardware-agnostic (Wameed, Odoo)

The software runs on whatever meets the specification.

Wameed runs on:

• Android terminals, including the Landi C20 Pro free with the subscription, with an integrated mada reader
• Windows and macOS, for back office and larger counters
• The browser, as a full cashier that also works offline with ZATCA signing
• Rugged PDAs — Zebra, Honeywell — for stock counts, receiving and floor work

• When a terminal dies: open the browser cashier on any laptop and keep selling while the replacement is sourced. This is the practical difference, and it is worth more than it sounds at 8pm on a Thursday.
• When you open a branch: buy from any supplier that meets the spec.
• When you want to leave: send the device back and go. No term, no exit charge, and the software ran on generic hardware anyway.

The arithmetic nobody does

Over three years with two counters, assume one device failure and one branch opening.

The row that matters most is not a cost, it isdowntime during failure. A counter that cannot sell is losing revenue at its full hourly rate, and the hourly rate at peak is several times the average.

What to ask every vendor

1. What exact devices are supported, by model?
2. Can I buy them from someone other than you?
3. If a terminal fails on a Thursday evening, what do I do that evening?
4. If the device is free with the plan, what is its retail value and what do I owe if I leave in month 14?
5. When a device model is discontinued, how long do you support it?

Ask question 3 first. The answer tells you more about the vendor than the feature list does.

Our hardware list is on thehardware page, and the full comparison is on thecomparison page.