I can't say for certain, but I think it was Epson that pioneered this flavour of anti-competitive (read: monopolistic) behavior. Marketing-hype suggests it's the guarantee only quality ink goes into the printer and that the print-head will gum-up with any other brand of ink. The real reason is that the printer companies are making a moderate profit on printers and a whopping profit on consumables (ink cartridges and treated/"photographic" paper). It's a deliberately skewed marketing tactic.
Because HP have also joined the club, there's little choice between the major manufacturers when it comes to the buyer's decision of "does this brand allow the ink cartridge to be refilled?". The overall buying decision is made on a list of other factors such as print-resolution, speed, and the initial purchase price. It's easy to keep the customer uninformed of the catch until further down the line, and by the time they find out it's too late...
...and in the meantime, the low cost of big-brand printers squeezes-out the smaller and starting-up printer manufacturers (which explains why the larger companies aren't exactly worried about the lack of real competition).
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branchandroot
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Date: 2003-03-15 09:58 pm (UTC)Marketing-hype suggests it's the guarantee only quality ink goes into the printer and that the print-head will gum-up with any other brand of ink.
The real reason is that the printer companies are making a moderate profit on printers and a whopping profit on consumables (ink cartridges and treated/"photographic" paper). It's a deliberately skewed marketing tactic.
Because HP have also joined the club, there's little choice between the major manufacturers when it comes to the buyer's decision of "does this brand allow the ink cartridge to be refilled?". The overall buying decision is made on a list of other factors such as print-resolution, speed, and the initial purchase price. It's easy to keep the customer uninformed of the catch until further down the line, and by the time they find out it's too late...
...and in the meantime, the low cost of big-brand printers squeezes-out the smaller and starting-up printer manufacturers (which explains why the larger companies aren't exactly worried about the lack of real competition).