Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (More info?)
There are several well informed and helpful people who contribute regularly to
this ng and from a tiny number of uninformed people there is some real garbage
about OEM versus compatible inks and cartridges so I thought I would provide
some actual data.
I am in the printer business (repairs, sales and supply of consumables). The
following is a breakdown of repair situations (Inkjet printers only) for the
last 12 months (to end March 2005). Total sample is well in excess of 500
faults (actual figure will not be disclosed).
The printer brands are not named since I have no desire to enter into general
discussions about the best printer and the only way to correctly recommend a
printer is to understand the customer's needs first. We are not affiliated with
any particular manufacturer. The following is for the 5 major inkjet printer
manufacturers represented in our geography. My business is located a VERY long
way from the main users of this ng so I can't be accused of touting for
business, shipping costs would exceed the value of your printer!!!! (anyway I
won't be disclosing our name or location).
Faults that were OEM printhead or ink related (mainly printhead) - repaired 21%
- not repaired 3%
Faults that were non-OEM printhead or ink related (mainly printhead) - repaired
24% - not repaired 4%
Routine service (waste ink management and cleaning) 25%
Mechanical faults 12% (most not repaired)
Other (abuse, no fault found, incorrect usage etc) 11%
Important notes:
1. Most compatible cartridge users have older printers (ie generally out of
warranty) this skews the figures in favour of OEM's.
2. Not repaired usually means that the customer decided to replace their
printer after comparing cost of repair with cost of replacement and of course
new features and the comfort of a warranty on a new printer (warranty on
repairs is less than that on a new machine).
3. The majority of our repair customers also buy their consumables from us and
therefore we can be sure that in almost every case the printers have not had
their cartridges changed in order to avoid warranty issues.
4. In the case of one OEM cartridge series, we have far more failures than we
do for compaitbles. (This is a warranty issue which is nearly always honoured).
6. Where we are located there are different cost and market implications
compared to, say, North America which is a much bigger market.
More than 90% of cartridges that we sell are compatibles (re-manufactured or
original compatibles), but we have OEM available and customers choose.
The biggest part of our business is consumables followed by repair and printer
sales. This is inline with the industry at large and note that the margins are
tiny for printer sales compared to the other parts of the business; we make
better margins by repairing than we do by selling printers.
Do what you will with the above, I believe the figures are revealing. If it
helps anyone to choose between compatibles and OEM's then I will be more than
happy.
Tony
There are several well informed and helpful people who contribute regularly to
this ng and from a tiny number of uninformed people there is some real garbage
about OEM versus compatible inks and cartridges so I thought I would provide
some actual data.
I am in the printer business (repairs, sales and supply of consumables). The
following is a breakdown of repair situations (Inkjet printers only) for the
last 12 months (to end March 2005). Total sample is well in excess of 500
faults (actual figure will not be disclosed).
The printer brands are not named since I have no desire to enter into general
discussions about the best printer and the only way to correctly recommend a
printer is to understand the customer's needs first. We are not affiliated with
any particular manufacturer. The following is for the 5 major inkjet printer
manufacturers represented in our geography. My business is located a VERY long
way from the main users of this ng so I can't be accused of touting for
business, shipping costs would exceed the value of your printer!!!! (anyway I
won't be disclosing our name or location).
Faults that were OEM printhead or ink related (mainly printhead) - repaired 21%
- not repaired 3%
Faults that were non-OEM printhead or ink related (mainly printhead) - repaired
24% - not repaired 4%
Routine service (waste ink management and cleaning) 25%
Mechanical faults 12% (most not repaired)
Other (abuse, no fault found, incorrect usage etc) 11%
Important notes:
1. Most compatible cartridge users have older printers (ie generally out of
warranty) this skews the figures in favour of OEM's.
2. Not repaired usually means that the customer decided to replace their
printer after comparing cost of repair with cost of replacement and of course
new features and the comfort of a warranty on a new printer (warranty on
repairs is less than that on a new machine).
3. The majority of our repair customers also buy their consumables from us and
therefore we can be sure that in almost every case the printers have not had
their cartridges changed in order to avoid warranty issues.
4. In the case of one OEM cartridge series, we have far more failures than we
do for compaitbles. (This is a warranty issue which is nearly always honoured).
6. Where we are located there are different cost and market implications
compared to, say, North America which is a much bigger market.
More than 90% of cartridges that we sell are compatibles (re-manufactured or
original compatibles), but we have OEM available and customers choose.
The biggest part of our business is consumables followed by repair and printer
sales. This is inline with the industry at large and note that the margins are
tiny for printer sales compared to the other parts of the business; we make
better margins by repairing than we do by selling printers.
Do what you will with the above, I believe the figures are revealing. If it
helps anyone to choose between compatibles and OEM's then I will be more than
happy.
Tony
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