LYRA:TONERS COST MORE THAN PRINTERS

[Anonymous]

Pricey Brother and Lexmark Cartridges Dampen Affordable Color Laser Fanfare, Says Lyra
Lyra Research, the digital imaging authority, recently investigated the “sticker shock” phenomenon that some consumers experience when buying replacement toner cartridges for their affordable color laser printers. According to Lyra’s Hard Copy Supplies Advisory Service, for two of the sub-$500 color laser printers examined, a set of four replacement cartridges actually costs more than the printer does. A set of replacement cartridges for the Brother HL-2700CN, which sells for $499.98, costs 19 percent more than the printer. Similarly, four replacement cartridges for the $399.98 Lexmark C510 cost nearly 10 percent more than the printer. See the complete press release for information on replacement cartridges for other printers from Dell, HP, Konica Minolta, Lexmark, Oki and Xerox.
Newton, MA  July, 2006 — Lyra Research, the digital imaging authority, recently investigated the “sticker shock” phenomenon that some consumers experience when buying replacement toner cartridges for their affordable color laser printers. According to Lyra’s Hard Copy Supplies Advisory Service, for two of the sub-$500 color laser printers examined, a set of four replacement cartridges (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) actually costs more than the printer does. A set of replacement cartridges for the Brother HL-2700CN, which sells for $499.98, costs 19 percent more than the printer. Similarly, four replacement cartridges for the $399.98 Lexmark C510 cost nearly 10 percent more than printer. While no other sets of replacement cartridges exceeded the price of a printer, several color laser printer vendors, including Dell, HP, Konica Minolta, and Lexmark, sell a complete set of replacement cartridges for approximately 75 to 93 percent of the printer price . Cartridges for Oki’s C3200n fared best in the comparison, selling for 54 percent of the printer price.
Cortney Kasuba, toner analyst for Lyra Research and author of the study, explains the implications, “There has been a lot of fanfare about the availability of affordable, sub-$500 color laser printers. Color toner cartridges, however, have not followed suit in the downward pricing trend. While low printer prices may attract consumers to stores, the sticker shock they experience when it is time to buy new cartridges may ultimately lead to more conservative color printing habits-consumers may opt to print in monochrome more often than many printer vendors had anticipated. This development has the potential to disrupt the razors-and-blades revenue model in this market segment. Interestingly, some of the pricier cartridges actually have relatively high page yields, but in this price-sensitive category, consumers are more likely to associate value with low out-of-pocket costs.”

Related Chart Data
Replacement Cost for Toner Cartridges Relative to Printer Price
KEY: Printer Vendor and Model, Cartridge Price as a Percent of Printer Price
Brother HL-2700CN, 119%
Lexmark C510, 110%
Lexmark C522n, 93%
Dell Laser 3100cn, 88%
Konica Minolta magicolor 2400W, 81%
HP Color LaserJet 2600n, 81%
Dell Laser 3000cn, 75%
Xerox Phaser 6120N, 62%
Okidata C3200n, 54%

[Author]

July 19, 2006 at 12:08 PM