Printer cartridges: No more a peripheral issue

Tag : Toner Cartridge Refilling

The grey market has already eaten away 8-15 per cent of thecollective market share of OEMs over the last five years. Industryestimates put the size of the organised industry, including printerconsumables like cartridges and toners at Rs 1,500 crore in 2007,and the unorganised grey market at double this figure.
OEM retail staff say that while a refilled or remanufactured colourinkject cartridge can sell between Rs 100 and Rs 200 apiece, theoriginal hardware is imported and comes at a price tag of Rs250-500 with a guarantee.
Uday Bhat, general manager, (IT division), Samsung IndiaElectronics, says that even while targeting key growth segmentslike the SME and SoHo markets, the $68-billion giant is recognisingthe problem of cheap, fake cartridges flooding the market.
The company is tieing-up with legal firms to monitor compliancewith manufacturing and branding regulations among resellers, andwith channel partners too to educate customers directly onguarantee issues and the environmental impact of using discardedcartridges.
Market leader HP, on the other hand, has turned its attention tothe corporate segment which is more open to legitimate printingsolutions. Canon, with 2,300 retailers can ill-afford to ignore theSME and SoHO segments which are vulnerable to counterfeitcartridges and fly-by-night refilling operators.
The sale of aftermarket supplies has been a key revenue stream forprinter OEMs, but the emergence of organised refillers andremanufacturers such as Cartridge World will erode their profits.Besides counterfeits, OEMs also need to address ways to reduce theprice gap between remanufactured and original cartridges, sayindustry experts.