MOZAMBIQUE: HP FIGHTS COUNTERFEIT CARTRIDGES

[Anonymous]

http://allafrica.com/stories/200807250936.html
Mozambique: Hewlett Packard Fights Counterfeit in Country
The
US-based hardware company Hewlett Packard (HP) is signing agreements
with Mozambican partners in the fight against counterfeit computer
products.The first such agreement was celebrated on Thursday evening
with the Maputo company Consultrajin. According to Mercia Uys, the
representative of IT4Africa, an authorized HP wholesaler, Consultrajin
is one of six Mozambican firms licensed to sell HP products.She
announced that a full certification procedure will begin on 1 November,
allowing consumers to know whether the company they are dealing with is
authorized to sell HP products. Uys said that customers will be able to
obtain an end-user letter from certified partners, guaranteeing that
the goods purchased are genuine.

Armindo Cossa, managing
director of Consultrajin, claimed that two thirds of the computer
products on the Mozambican market are counterfeit. Looking at all the
areas of east and west Africa that she deals with, Uys put the figure
rather lower, at 40 per cent.Cossa said the main victim of counterfeit
goods is the Mozambican state, because of the tender procedures
followed. The rules for tendering are brutally clear – the dominant
factor is price, and almost always the lowest bidder will receive the
contract.Cossa argued this was dangerous when acquiring high-tech
equipment, because it opened the door to counterfeit. Pirates are able
to charge less for their goods than bona fide suppliers.He suggested
that it was time to change the rules, and that, at the very least, the
state should demand that suppliers provide documents from the
manufacturers certifying that the products purchased are genuine.The
counterfeit goods come from the far east. Uys said that most of them
are made in China and Singapore. But neither she nor Cossa named the
companies involved in putting these inferior goods onto the Mozambican
market.Obviously companies like Consultrajin know who their competitors
are, and which of them are dealing in counterfeit goods. Yet Cossa was
reluctant to denounce them publicly. Instead, he suggested that, if
customers suspect they have been sold counterfeit HP goods, they should
inform Consultrajin which will then contact both HP and the police.The
main problem seems to be not with machines such as printers or
photocopiers themselves, but with consumables such as toner and ink.
Uys explained to her audience some of the tell-tale signs that enable
customers to know whether a toner cartridge or inking drum is a genuine
HP product or a fake.”The customer is the loser”, she stressed. “He is
paying premium prices for a poor quality product. He thinks he is
getting HP quality when in reality he is not”.

[Author]

July 30, 2008 at 4:18 PM