HP: Remanufactured laser toners won't save you money
- — 14 May, 2009 14:57
HP claims that using remanufactured laser toners can double the total cost of ownership of a printer compared to using genuine HP laser toners. A study commissioned by HP and conducted by QualityLogic indicated that remanufactured laser toners can increase the total cost of ownership by causing reliability issues for printers and printing below the quoted page yield.
The remanufactured toners tested in the study are not named. One-tenth of the tested cartridges failed prematurely or before use, and 15.3 per cent of the toners tested produced pages of "limited or no use", according to the study.
“SMBs [small to medium businesses] who think they can achieve cost savings by choosing remanufactured cartridges are making a mistake by not factoring in the hidden costs from reprints, replacement cartridges and additional labour costs from having to diagnose and fix printing problems”, said Dave Jollota, QualityLogic CEO.
HP has used the study to reaffirm its stance on remanufactured cartridges. “Today’s announcement goes a long way in dispelling the myth that using remanufactured cartridges is a cheaper option after considering the total cost of printing", said HP's Jason Su. “In this economic climate when everything counts, SMBs who use remanufactured cartridges need to be aware that the savings from the initial purchase price are quickly eroded and they are likely to end up incurring twice as much cost through replacement cartridges, reprinted pages and time wasted by their staff.”
The printer manufacturer has also created a formula to compare a printer's total cost of ownership when using genuine and remanufactured monochrome toners. Dubbed the "HP TonerTool", the formula uses cartridge, labour, support and paper costs as well as print usage patterns based on 2500 of HP's high-usage SMB customers in the Asia Pacific. HP claims that users who opt for remanufactured toner cartridges are likely to double the total cost of ownership of their printer compared to if they used HP monochrome cartridges.
