Continuing from a previous post: Patent’ed Profits vs. Freedom of Choice
Some numbers on the printer market economics (sourced from the article Ever Wonder Why Ink Costs So Much? in BusinessWeek Nov 14, 2005 issue)
- Cost of 3rd party refilling (e.g. Cartridge World) vs. vendor-sold (e.g. HP) cartridges: 40-60%
- Ink inside a new cartridge from HP, Lexmark or Canon costs more per ounce than Chanel No. 5 or Dom Perignon
- Global market for printer ink: $59 billion
- Refiller share: 5% (2004); Knock-off brands: 18% (2004)
- Estimated market share (non-vendor) in 2009: 31% (source: Lyra Research)
No wonder people like Cartridge world are expanding so fast. From 1 store in Australia to more than 1,000 stores across 30 countries (including 275+ in North America) raking in $300m annually in less than 10 years is surely a good business by any standards.
Keywords: Printer, Ink, Cost, BusinessWeek, Cartridges, HP, Cartridge World, Lexmark, Canon, Printer Ink Market, Refiller, Refilled Cartridges
