OFFICE-SUPER-STORES STOCKING UP ON INK !

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Date: Sunday July 2, 2006 09:00:00 pm
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    Stores Get More Ink
    Consumers
    looking to buy ink, toner and other printing supplies–the most
    profitable part of the printer business–are increasingly turning to
    retailers’ own brands, according to a study released this
    week.Technology research firm InfoTrends says that retailers like
    Staples and Office Depot  are grabbing a growing chunk of the $100
    billion imaging supply market by selling in-house brands of ink, toner
    and other supplies. The losers, for now, are third-party companies like
    Franklin, Tenn.-based Nu-kote. But eventually the trend may bite into
    the bottom line of printing powerhouses like Hewlett-Packard , Canon
    and Lexmark.Right now, the printing giants own 84% of the print
    supplies market, InfoTrends says. The remainder is split between
    retailers that sell their own brands and the Nu-kotes of the world.
    Currently, retailers own about 60% of that market, and they’re going to
    get more, says InfoTrends researcher John Shane.Shane says he expects
    stores’ brand sales to grow at a 40% compounded annual growth rate
    through 2009, while aftermarket sales will grow at only a 1% clip.
    Print giants like Hewlett-Packard will grow at an 8% rate, he says.But
    without a serious investment in advertising and promotion, that growth
    spurt “will probably slow down,” since “most large stores out there are
    already selling their own ink,” Shane says. There is one notable
    exception. “ Wal-Mart is the wild card. It’s not clear if they will
    pursue it,” he says.Still, printer manufacturers aren’t totally safe
    from the shift. “Store brands are definitely whittling away from OEM
    [original equipment manufacturer] market share,” says Shane. But
    companies like Seiko Epson and Canon have more to lose. HP, Dell  and
    Lexmark  bundle their ink and toner cartridges with printer
    heads–which are protected under strict intellectual property
    rules–while Epson’s and Canon’s printer heads are sold separately

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