Digital BW, The Print

johnny999_99 wrote:

>
> The only real question here is whether or not the major suppliers are
> colluding among themselves to maintain high cartidge prices.  

Since when?

The question is not restricted in any way to whether the manufacturers 
are engaged in any kind of collusion or conspiracy to fix prices etc... 
No-one has even suggested something so ridiculous...

Go back and read the original post and the associated articles.

What the EU Commissioner and Members of the EU Parliament are saying is 
that the OEM manufacturers are using control of the consumables, through 
warranty and  technologies designed to prevent the use of 3rd party 
inks, to shift the cost of the printers to the consumables in an 
anti-competitve manner..

Shifting those costs does several things for the OEMs..

1)  It makes competition for printers less likely, as new entrants need 
to assure a supply chain which allows that kind of cost-shifting 
(meaning it has to be a VERY large corporation that can have a chain in 
place when printers are released) -- WHY? Because consumers will 
purchase a printer (by and large) based on initial sticker price.. If 
you don't cost-shift and other vendors do, you get reduced sales..

2)   It prevents reuse of the recyclable elements of the printer (a 
violation probably of both EU Law and laws in several US States)  

3)  It prevents the use of cheaper and at times better consumables. 
 Voiding a warranty because you use non OEM toner or paper in your 
copier is highly unlikely, yet it is a component of OEM inkjet warranties.

So, this has nothing to do with outright collusion or conspiracy to set 
pricing...

Anti-trust and anti-competitive practices are not restricted to those 
elements..

Your last little diatribe would have probably received a D/D- in Econ 
101 for its overly simplistic and narrow-minded analysis. I would 
suggest you need to retake the course and actually read the course 
materials, as well as the background to this discussion before again 
taking so adamant and provocative a stance,

[Keith]
 
 




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