EYEING THE REFILL PIE

[Anonymous]

Eyeing the refill pie
(india)When
the prices of printers are coming down, why is the same not happening
with ink cartridges? The answer is simple: printer manufacturers get
the bulk of their profits from selling cartridges and not printers.
That’s where the refill market comes into the picture.
According to
Lyra Research, about 1.3 billion ink cartridges are sold worldwide
every year. The report says that such sales generated a revenue of
$30.1 billion in 2005. The marketshare of refilled and re-engineered
ink cartridges is projected to increase to 29 percent in North America
by 2009, up from 23 percent in 2005.
In India, companies doing business in printers and cartridges include HP, Epson, Samsung, Canon, Xerox and Ricoh.
Though
in India the marketshare of refilled and re- engineered ink cartridges
is yet to be estimated, Jet Cartridges, which came into existence a
year back, seems to be doing brisk business.
The company’s customers
include Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mahindra Intertrade, Essjay
International, UTI Bank, Bank of India and Haffkine
Bio-Pharmaceuticals. Jet has some 250 models in the inkjet segment and
more than 140 in the area of laserjets.
Recycling cartridges
The
company has an R&D team that works on the various inks available in
the market. They maintain cartridges for fax and xerox machines, and
claim to offer even those cartridges for which OEMs have discontinued
supply.
States Vinod Ravaria, Director of the company, “Recycling is
done through automated machines which are operated by qualified staff.
Indian customers want the printed output to be as dark as possible.
Keeping this in mind, Jet has developed ink that is darker.”
For all printers
Jet’s
pricing strategy is to keep ink cartridge costs 10 to 50 percent lower
than the original ones. The price range is Rs 120 to 10,000 per
cartridge. “We provide cartridges for all sorts of printers. They are
compatible with those of HP, Epson, Xerox and Ricoh. Our USP is best
quality and price,” says Ravaria.Currently, Jet is working with 500
dealers all over India and providing services (refills) at the
customer’s venue within two hours of placing an order.Ravaria says that
Jet’s inkjet cartridges are formulated for specific printers. Inks used
are clog-free for smoother working and longer life. They dry quickly on
both paper and film printouts.
The company ensures full technical support till the cartridge is installed in the customer’s printer.
Jet is ISO 9001 certified. Comments Ravaria, “This will help us in retaining the standard and quality of work.”
Vertical-focus
The
company is focussing on all kinds of verticals. It is facing some
hurdles in the government sector. K Prabhakar, the company’s Business
Development Manager explains, “OEMs have created barriers which bind
the customers to the company for some years, else they stop support.
Hence, convincing the government departments to buy our product is a
difficult task. However, the corporate segment has been open.

[Author]

February 17, 2006 at 10:17 AM