Digital BW, The Print

I'm late looking at this thread, but it is interesting to see the stakes.
Someone else may well have noted the following, and if so forgive me.  The
following is from Seiko Epson's 2005 annual report (one year old as it files
on a fiscal year ended March 31):

"(1) Epson’s relies to a significant degree on profits from its inkjet
printer business
Epson’s ¥942,401 million of sales from its information-related equipment
business for the year ending
March 2005 constituted 63.7% of its consolidated sales, which were
¥1,479,750 million (excluding
inter-segment). Inkjet printers and consumables accounted for much of the
sales and profits of the
information-related equipment business. So there is a possibility that
sluggish sales of inkjet printers
and their related supplies will have a material adverse effect on Epson’s
overall results.

(4) Epson might experience a reduction in the market for Epson-brand
consumables
Consumable products for inkjet printers, especially ink cartridges, are
particularly important to Epson’s
sales and profit. There are third parties who supply ink cartridges that can
be used in Epson printers.
These alternatives products are generally sold at prices cheaper than
Epson’s brand products, and they
are slowly gaining market share in Japan and the United States, but even
more so in Europe and
developing countries. Such third parties will continue to expand their share
of the market for these
alternative products in the future, so for Epson to remain competitive, it
might have to lower its prices of
such consumables.
In responding to such risks as a decline in its share of the market for
Epson-brand products and a
reduction in prices, Epson has will continue to introduce onto the market,
in accordance with the demands
and tastes of consumer in each region, its own products that appeal to
consumers searching for quality
and ease of use. For example, it will aim to maintain and improve the
quality of its products, and it will
strive to boost their user-friendliness, such as by using even longer
lasting ink and an array of single-color
ink cartridges. Epson will also take legal measures to if any of its patent
rights or trademark rights it
holds over its ink cartridges are infringed.
There is no assurance, however, that any of these efforts will be effective,
and if Epson’s profit from
consumable products for inkjet printers declines because, for example, in
the future the market share
occupied by the alternative products increases further or Epson must reduce
the prices of its brand
products, then Epson’s results might consequently be adversely affected."

So, Seiko Epson is saying that out of sales of roughly USD12.7 billion, its
information-related business sales were roughly USD8 billion, of which
"much" was attributable to inkjet printers and consumables.  That's a lot of
money for those little cartridges.  While not a huge company by U.S.
standards, it is interesting that it sees third-party inks as something
worthy of comment.  Wonder what the "array of single-color ink cartrideges"
is?  Anyone interested in following lawsuit disclosures for U.S. traded
companies (Seiko Epson is traded on the TSE) can go to www.sec.gov and look
up their disclosures in the footnotes to the financial statements, or 8-K
forms filed.

Ken