PROPAGANDA FROM HP

[Anonymous]

One in four refilled print cartridges DOA
sep.2007
–  Print cartridge maker HP has advised consumers to beware of buying
well-known grocery giants’ in-store/refill brand and various refill
stations’ inkjet cartridges, warning that one in five compatible
alternatives were either “dead on arrival” or failed prematurely.Across
Europe it is becoming a popular phenomenon for high street grocery
chains to enter the consumer electronics market and many are selling
their-own branded inkjet cartridges compatible with popular printer
brands such as HP.

However, HP has warned that these are
effectively refilled cartridges that were binned by consumers and
present possible disappointment.Research conducted by European research
firm Innovationstechnik on more than 1,000 compatible alternative
inkjet cartridges from 16 major high street retail players found that
24pc or almost one in four were dead on arrival or failed
prematurely.It found that one in three – 33.6pc – inkjet cartridges
refilled at shops or in kiosks were dead on arrival.

HP business
development manager Eduardo Macias told siliconrepublic.com that
original print cartridges from manufacturers like HP would on average
print 34pc more pages than compatible alternatives and 69pc more pages
than those bought at a refill outlet.“I don’t think people fully
realise that when they buy another brand of cartridge for a HP printer
they think it’s a bona fide HP cartridge when in fact its simply a
refilled cartridge.“As a result the probability of such a cartridge
actually working is quite low. When the consumer thinks he or she is
saving a few quid they’re not actually saving in the end.“The problem
for HP is they won’t blame the firm that sold them the cartridge but
would actually blame the manufacturer of the printer itself.”Gary
Tierney, general manager of HP’s Inkjet Products Group in Ireland told
siliconrepublic.com: “We don’t make cartridges for anyone else to
brand. But if someone sees a store-branded product the fact of the
matter is it is second-hand, possibly even more than second
hand.“Retail chains, including traditional food retailers, now see a
route to market through electronics like 42-inch plasma TVs and
laptops. But the problem we find is that if they buy a print cartridge
with someone else’s brand on it there’s a perception that these
products are made by HP and they’re not.“It is important to note that
the print head on each cartridge is not a small bottle top but a
detailed piece of electronics. And in most cases of these store-branded
‘compatible’ products they are actually something that somebody else
threw in a bin,” Tierney said.

[Author]

September 22, 2007 at 4:13 PM