*NEWS*HP’S PROTECTIVE LAYER

[Anonymous]

HP’S Protective layer
HP
has shipped its first batch of office printers using its new scalable
printing technology. Third-party manufacturers are on the alert
On
11 July, when Hewlett-Packard  announced its new scalable printing
technology (SPT), it claimed the “market changing” system would
“catapult its leadership in the printer market years ahead of its
competitors”.
The high-performance printers feature separated
printheads and ink tanks, a significant step away from HP’s typically
integrated cartridges. At the core of the technology is a new type of
inkjet printhead that uses a higher number of precisely-aligned,
ink-delivering nozzles – 3,900 or more – offering better printing
quality, and a faster and cheaper printing process.
But while SPT opens doors for HP, it also opens a huge third-party supplies market.
Jamie
Gryce, HP’s sales and marketing manager of supplies for UK and Ireland,
told OPI that HP has in no way done anything to inhibit copying or
filing cartridges. “In fact we have gone the other way,” he says “such
as using a smart chip in the cartridges instead of a killer chip, which
does not prevent people refilling it. It is not our place to stop the
aftermarket.”
The industry believes that although HP cannot prevent
the aftermarket, it will protect itself as best it can. “HP is always
very active in applying patents for its new innovations, we have not
seen any change in its practice,” says Phil Leckinger of Sourcing
Partner.
Greg Welchans of Supplies Network adds: “HP’s philosophy is
different to other OEMs in that it has not taken a litigious position
against those that make compatibles. HP has learnt that its velocity in
changing technology has minimised the success of the remanufacturer in
the last several years… However I also think it will do everything
that the law allows to protect it from aftermarket competition.”
Welchans
believes that the low prices of SPT cartridges could make it tough for
third-party players. “It will be a challenge for the aftermarket to
recover the empties or mould new cartridges, fill them, replace or add
chips, and package and distribute them profitably. And we haven’t even
considered any technical or IP issues.”
Jim Forrest, managing editor
of Lyra Research, believes that HP could have done more to protect its
product, but didn’t, not only because of legal reasons, but also to
invoke some positive PR. “HP hasn’t used a killer chip in its tanks, so
the user can refill it with third-party ink. Nor has it used an
encrypted code on the chip, which would make it harder for others to
replicate. And because the ink tank is separated in SPT, it has made it
easier for the aftermarket to reengineer ink tanks.”
Risk
However,
Forrest believes that HP has protected itself in other ways. For
example, it has told customers that they use third-party ink at their
own risk. “If the nozzles are clogged or burnt out, and if the reason
for this is third-party ink, then HP won’t honour the warranty,” claims
Forrest. In addition, the printhead is designed to last the life of the
printer in the Officejet Pro K550, so there seems little opportunity
for third-party manufacturers. In any case, the printhead is governed
by strict intellectual property, he says.
Welchans agrees that how
the printhead is manufactured is key to aftermarket success. “In the
past, the printhead has been designed to work very well even after
multiple cycles. If HP has designed the printhead to ‘self-destruct’ so
to speak after one lifecycle, then this could very well deter the
aftermarket.”
But HP’s Gryce says that because the printhead is on
the cartridge itself, the user can replace it if need be, either with
an HP cartridge or a compatible cartridge from a third-party
manufacturer, which he believes will be on the market “in due course”.
But once again, HP warns that quality could be compromised with a
remanufactured cartridge. “For the purpose of design, the cartridge is
to be used once and once alone and you will lose quality if re-used,”
says Gryce. “It’s up to the user to decide whether they are happy with
that quality.”
So how long will it take third-party manufacturers to
get SPT-compatible supplies into the market? “As far as timing is
concerned, that goes to the question of patents, ink and cartridge
technology,” says Leckinger.
Richard Keller, manager of technical
engineering at Peach adds that because HP has separated the printhead
from the ink tank, it should not take the aftermarket long.
But
Welchans believes aftermarket may take longer than normal to arrive in
the case of SPT. “Typically aftermarket supplies arrive six months
after an OEM hits the market. I would say that SPT will lengthen that
time. The time to market will be based upon availability of cores to
manufacture from…so the more success HP has in number of printers
sold, the more likely and sooner we will see aftermarket supplies.”
HP’s
Gryce says he has no idea how long it will take. “This depends on the
quality of the aftermarket and the quality of the technology out
there,” he says. “It’s very competitive in the retail stores. We have
strong expectations of the K550. And if sales are high, supplies will
also go well.”

[Author]

November 25, 2005 at 10:28 AM