How New Trends In Printers Will Affect Ink Prices

2010-02-12

If you are in the printing industry, work in an office, or use a printer for home personal use, you know just as well as anyone else that printer ink cartridges are ridiculously expensive. It seems that when printers were invented, the manufacturers were very clever in setting their selling scheme. In fact the concept that printer manufactures use can be found often in technology. For example, a cell phone sold for free with costly usage fees, an inexpensive video game console with outrageously overpriced games, the list goes on and on.

In recent years, computer printer companies have pushed prices to the limit. Inkjet companies are successfully using their influence in the industry to alter the price of ink replacement cartridges and to keep competitors cut off. Ink cartridges are packaged in fancy cartridges that are impossible for competitors to duplicate. Once manufactured, printer companies make sure to get it patented in order to further keep competitors away. For the consumer, buying a high quality printer with a specific ink cartridge supplied by the same company leaves you with no other options than to pay the price that they stick to you. Furthermore, top computer printer companies spend up to 1 billion dollars a year in printer research and development. With costs of R&D so high, there is no doubt that this will keep product prices high.

Just like high gas prices, printer ink cartridges are a necessity for those who need to print, and have no choice but to roll with the punches. However, new printer technology from some of the world's top brands may actually have a positive effect on the price of ink. Xerox, one the world's biggest printer manufacturers, has recently released a multi function printer that claims to cut to current cost of color printing by more than half. In addition to the drastic savings, Xerox ensures consumers that the printing quality is not at all compromised. According to Xerox.com, the solid ink technology allows one to print up to 55,500 pages before refilling. The design is cartridge free, thus greatly reducing not only the cost to replace ink but also the impact on the environment.

Since ink cartridges are expensive and create wasteful plastic. Here are a few tips to extend the life of your printer ink cartridge: Make sure the empty warning sensors are working properly on your printer and check to see to see if the cartridge is actually empty. By taking out the cartridge and reloading it you will find that it still has some life left in it.