I just install an ink loader for my printer. Most printer in Indonesia is like that. We have a big ink tank next to our printer installed for $25.
I know that the ink in inkjets are overpriced. The reason is simple. The non official inks are way cheaper. Hence, the value of the official ink is mainly there because most users cannot use other inks outside the official inks.
I also know that the price for the ink printers are underpriced. I think printer companies are selling printers at a lost.
Why do they do that? Why don't they sell printer at higher price and make cheap inks?
Leveraping IP - Kinsella
Printer Cartridge Patents
Other examples abound.
For example, it’s well known that Hewlett-Packard (HP) makes more money selling replacement ink cartridges for its printers, than on the printers themselves. You might say they sell printers so that they can then sell cartridges to the users. But how to prevent third parties from making cheaper or competing cartridges compatible with HP printers? Just put some kind of mechanism in the printer that requires a special mating circuit in the cartridge before the printer will function with the cartridge–and then patent the mating circuit. Even if competitors could duplicate the mating circuit so that the generic cartridge would work with the printer, this would infringe HP’s patent in the mating circuit in the cartridge. A superfluous, extra complication is added to the printer and cartridges on purpose just so that they can be patented, to prevent competition. (See HP settles inkjet cartridge patent complaints; HP sues four ink cartridge companies.) Without the mercantilist protection afforded by patent law, HP would be unable to use the law to stop owners of HP printers from buying cheaper cartridges from third parties, any more than Ford can prevent a Mustang owner from using whatever brand of gasoline he prefers. This, of course, allows a monopoly price to be charged for HP cartridges, thus gouging the consumer.
That make sense.
What other kind of products that are like this?
I still do not see why it's more profitable to just sell printers at higher price?
genepool:I still do not see why it's more profitable to just sell printers at higher price?
Because you literally just said yourself that they are essentially giving the printers away. How the hell would you expect to sell a printer at an inflated price when all your competitors are already selling theirs at a loss?
How the hell would you expect to sell a printer at an inflated price when all your competitors are already selling theirs at a loss?
Well, you could, if your target audience ran a half-decent total cost of ownership analysis. I guess most of the home/small business customers just do not care about the cost of the cartridges until it's time to refill - at the point of printer's sale you only see the price tag for the device itself, no "mileage" and price for ink (ideally you would want something like $ per page estimates). I am a bit surprised that at least the EU does not enforce any kind of regulation to require such information.
That's a good point.
Also it's always easy to hack on printers anyway and add your own custom tube. That's what Indonesians do.
We buy "normal" underpriced printers, and then someone would install custom tube with unofficial inks whose price is much less.