Tonerpartner, an online distributor of printer ink and toner, advertises almost as eloquently as Aale-Dieter on the Hamburg fish market: "The customer can save up to 80 percent" "through compatible products with 100 percent print quality". So: If, for example, there is a Canon printer next to the desk, ink cartridges or toner cartridges do not necessarily have to come from this manufacturer. Several other providers have color dispensers at significantly more favorable conditions in the program. Whether they really always offer the same quality and functional reliability remains to be seen; however, the often actually enormous price differences to the brand factories even justify a certain residual risk.
How does the market phenomenon come about? A common theory traces it back to mixed calculations of the manufacturers. Network-capable inkjet color printers, for example, are available for less than 100 euros. Such prices can only pay off if the profit expectations for the ink cartridge business are included in the overall calculation. Marketing experts call this lock-in, i.e. a kind of customer loyalty under the gentle pressure of a hardware purchase on tempting terms. The principle is not new. John D. Rockefeller, according to legend from the capitalist founding era, had masses of petroleum lamps distributed in China for free from 1870 onwards, which then supplied his Standard Oil Company with the necessary fuel. That made the man a millionaire. Gillette is another nice example: If you buy the handle of a wet shaver of this brand, you always feel a touch of resentment when you buy the fine five-fold blades in the drugstore. Because the prices for these utensils are almost prohibitive.
Customer loyalty through cartridge recycling
The business with non-brand printer accessories is like a balancing act on the tightrope of civil law. Third-party manufacturers must be meticulous in ensuring that their products match the printers and still do not infringe any patents. Lawyers are therefore just as important in these companies as development engineers. Conversely, printer manufacturers are trying to defend their customer loyalty – among other things with reasonable services such as cartridge recycling: Usable copies are refilled and offered at more favorable conditions. HP, however, is also struggling with hard bandages. What happened? Automatic firmware updates fed in via a network connection suddenly paralyze many printer models of the manufacturer, even during operation.
The measure is based on an HP concept called "Dynamic Security". The software of the devices checks whether the ink cartridges or toner cartridges used come from our own production. If this is the case, they may remain in the printer, even if they are refilled copies. In addition, the HP color memories carry tiny chips in the housing, with which they identify themselves as legitimate accessories. If they fail to provide proof, the firmware stops operation and explains the process on the display: "This printer is only intended for the use of new or refilled cartridges that have the corresponding HP chip." Currently affected are the models Officejet 7740 and Officejet Pro 6970; for some older printers produced before 2016, there will be ways to circumvent the exclusion of third-party brands, for example by reinstalling older firmware. However, service pages of the manufacturer indicate that future updates could also plug such loopholes. Is this legal?
Frustrated customers have already tried to find out with class action lawsuits in America, Australia and Italy. After all, there are professional users who have already purchased a larger toner supply, which is worthless after the update. And is the HP policy legitimate? The manufacturer sells the lockout of the competition as a quality assurance measure, but this is an all too transparent argument. This is apparently about customer loyalty with coercive means. Whether König Kunde wants to go along with this, however, he can decide at the next printer purchase. There are manufacturers who maintain more liberal practices. And it is probably legitimate if the choice then goes in favor of a model on which a different brand name is written.