During the crisis, cheaper may be more expensive<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It's a familiar story. While printing out a term
\nproject, Anita ran out of ink for her eight-month-old Epson
\nStylus printer. Because she was pressed with a deadline, she went
\nto a store in the nearby market to buy a new cartridge. She
\ndidn't really take a look at the box that the store owner handed
\nto her, and she didn't even look at the packaging when she took
\nthe cartridge out.<\/p>\n
The first 20 pages printed out quite well. Then she noticed
\nmore and more specks on the paper while the print itself became
\nlighter. Before she knew it, there was black ink everywhere
\ninside the printer. Luckily, she had printed most of her
\nassignment; she realized that the store had given her a
\ncounterfeit ink cartridge. Now, who's going to clean up the mess?
\nNot to worry, she thought. She still had four months remaining
\nbefore the warranty of her Stylus printer expired.<\/p>\n
Or did she?<\/p>\n
When she took her printer to the repair center, she got an
\nunpleasant little surprise. Because the problem was caused by a
\ncounterfeit cartridge, the warranty was void. She had to pay a
\nhandsome amount for the repair. And, her peril would be the same
\nregardless of the brand of her printer, whether Epson, Canon or
\nHP.<\/p>\n
The problem of counterfeit ink cartridges has escalated so
\nmuch that the three companies which represent the biggest three
\ncompetitors in the printer market -- HP, Epson and Canon -- have
\nheld the first ever joint media conference asking the media's
\nassistance to increase public awareness of the problem.<\/p>\n
Competitors<\/p>\n
The media event at the Grand Hyatt last month was unique. The
\nthree companies, i.e., Metrodata, Datascrip and HPSI, which
\nnormally fight each other for market shares, got together that
\nafternoon and swore they would join hands in fighting counterfeit
\nprinter supplies (more commonly called consumables in the
\nindustry). The cooperation between the three competitors can
\ncertainly be taken as an indicator of how serious the problem is
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Currently, four different types of consumables are available
\non the market. First, of course, you can buy the original ribbon,
\nink or toner cartridge supplied by the respective vendors. Then
\nthere are third-party vendors who offer products under their own
\nbrands. Or, you can also buy do-it-yourself refill supplies and
\nreuse your empty cartridges. Finally, there are counterfeit
\nproducts.<\/p>\n
The three vendors, understandably, never endorse the use of
\nthird-party products. However, the last category is really
\ninteresting as well as worth knowing about. On the market, you
\ncan get a refilled cartridge packaged in original boxes (some of
\nthose back stores buy empty original cartridges and boxes from
\nend users and reuse them), you may get a refilled cartridge in
\nfake boxes (and counterfeiters have been able to produce high-
\nquality boxes that can befool even careful eyes), or original
\nproducts in fake boxes.<\/p>\n
\"Almost every other retail store can offer you any one of
\nthese types,\" Paul Anthony, HP's Supplies Business Manager for
\nAsia Pacific, told me in an exclusive interview prior to the
\npress conference. Usually the stores will let you know if they
\nhave original product in fake boxes to offer.<\/p>\n
The three companies shared the belief that consumers need to
\nbe warned of the consequence of knowingly or unknowingly using
\ncounterfeit printer supplies. First, as Anita found out, the
\nwarranty of the printers will not be honored if the damage is
\ncaused by the use of a counterfeit or low-quality ink cartridge.<\/p>\n
Alarm bells<\/p>\n
Has such a big concern about counterfeit products been
\nprompted by the increasingly bigger bite into the market share of
\noriginal products? While admitting that the sales of consumables
\nrepresents a pretty significant percentage of the printer
\nvendors' revenues, Paul explained that the initiative was taken
\nparticularly because the service divisions of the three companies
\nhad seen an alarming increase in the number of printers with
\ndamage caused by counterfeit or lower-quality ink products. The
\nthree big printer players then decided it was time to let the
\nusers know about it, hence the joint media conference.<\/p>\n
One of the arguments for using lower-priced alternatives is
\nobviously the cost, which has become more important as we sink
\ndeeper into the economic recession. By buying refilled products,
\nprinter users can save up to 70 percent on printing costs.<\/p>\n
Wouldn't it be nice if, given the fact that we are in a bad
\neconomic condition, these printer vendors could help by lowering
\nthe prices of their consumable products sold in Indonesia so that
\nwe can once again afford to buy them? It is not that easy,
\nbecause if the prices here in Indonesia were significantly lower
\nthan, say, in Singapore, most of the products intended for
\nIndonesia would be reshipped and end up sitting on the shelves at
\nFunan Center or Sim Lim Square instead.<\/p>\n
\"All we can do is add values to our customers,\" Paul said. HP,
\nfor example, gives away a disposable camera with the purchase of
\none ink cartridge. There were also redemption programs in the
\npast where consumers could get some cash back for every original
\nbox that they brought back to HP.<\/p>\n
Why not produce the ink and toner cartridges locally so that
\ncosts can be lowered? Unfortunately, that's not a feasible
\nsolution, either. \"The precision level required in manufacturing
\nthe high-quality cartridges is so high that it is actually an
\nextremely capital intensive industry,\" explained Paul.<\/p>\n
\"Worldwide, we only have four manufacturing facilities for ink
\ncartridges. They are located in Singapore, Ireland, the U.S. and
\nPuerto Rico. All toner cartridges sold in all parts of the world
\nare essentially made in Japan.\"<\/p>\n
The next solution would be to ask the printer makers to adopt
\nthe technology used for photocopiers. We wouldn't have to waste
\nmoney on the printhead, and this could also help environment. Not
\nquite, according to Paul. The printhead that we have now has a
\nvery limited lifetime. Therefore, for the best result, it has to
\nbe replaced at the same time we change the ink cartridge. The
\nprinter makers could make more durable printheads that would not
\ncorrode quickly, but that would lead to much higher prices.<\/p>\n
However, the idea is not totally unusable. The US$599 HP
\nDeskJet 2000C and the $999 DeskJet 2500C are the first inkjet
\nprinters in the world that use separate printhead and ink
\ncontainer.<\/p>\n
\"Yet, the printing head will still have to be replaced once in
\ntwo years at the most,\" reminded Paul, \"and the price of the head
\nunit will be very expensive.\"<\/p>\n
The DeskJet 2000C and 2500C are high-end printers, and as
\nsuch, they already carry premium price tags. It should be clear
\nnow that the choice is between making a separate durable but far
\nmore expensive print head and ink tank or an affordable ink
\ncartridge with a limited life printhead already built in, and the
\nmajority of the market still demands the second option.<\/p>\n
So, what were the main messages from the joint press
\nconference last month? Printer users do have alternatives that
\nmay save them some money, but if something goes wrong, they may
\nlose the warranty for their new printers and may have to spend
\nclose to the price of a new unit just to get the printer
\nrepaired. More important than that is that we all should be aware
\nthat there are a lot of counterfeit products out there, and the
\nbest way to protect ourselves is to buy printer consumables from
\ndealers, whether Canon, Epson or HP.<\/p>",
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