NCR seems to be spending most of its time these days focused on ridiculous things that grab headlines. People can take the other side of this, but we expect digital currencies to find higher uptake on mobile devices tethered to online bank accounts.
All the data we’ve seen just reinforces our position:
Cash is declining, clearly accelerated by COVID, and the rise of mobile banking means …wait for it…
a dwindling need for ATMs.
Look at this trend line going all the way back to 2009.
Anyone with a brain can see the writing on the wall.
From China:
According to data from the People’s Bank of China, after reaching a peak of 1,128,600 units in the third quarter of 2018, the number of domestic ATM machines has been declining.
In terms of the increment of ATM machines, from 251,800 units in 2015 to 36,400 units in 2017, within 3 years, the number of new ATM machines deployed has shrunk by 85%.
The reporter combed and found that 2015 was an important turning point in the development of the industry, and many manufacturers’ ATM business began to lose money continuously.
Even if you think ATMs stick around in any meaningful way, we’d bet that NCR screws up whatever vestige of infinitesimal success there might be in that category, just like they’ve screwed up pretty much every acquisition they’ve undertaken.
Radiant.
Marketman.
Zipscene.
Alas, NCR still seems to be the go-to company for killing the hopes and dreams of humanity.
Whether this reality has dawned on the NCR’s employees, who have surely grown weary of constantly losing, or NCR’s leadership has decided to cull more personnel to extend their demise just a few more years, the end result seems to have been a significant exodus in NCR’s hospitality division.
It feels highly coincidental that NCR’s former employees have also shared that NCR is abandoning NCR’s efforts on Aloha Nextgen, the purported replacement for the dumpster fire that is Aloha POS.
Instead, we’re being told that NCR will proceed with Silver as the cloud replacement for Aloha.
NCR is basically the guy telling you about the newest innovations in horse hooves, and even spending money to buy paint to color the hooves, while Ford is stamping out tens of thousands of cars a week.
We’d feel bad about it but NCR’s execs have such ridiculous perks, it’s hard to give two turds:
“Mr. Hayford also will be entitled to certain other perquisites, including limited personal use of corporate aircraft.”
We wonder how often Toast’s executives are billing the company for private aviation… maybe when they’ve developed indigestion from inhaling the entire Aloha portfolio they’ll give it a whirl.
[…] wrote about this earlier, but we’ll rehash it […]