BetaONE will rise again! - HP To Scrap Inkjet 'CLEVER CHIPS'

Quote:

By electricnews.net
Posted: 20/12/2002 at 08:44 GMT

Prices of printer cartridges look set to drop thanks to a new EU law that will ban printer firms from forcing consumers to buy their own-brand refills. The European Parliament voted unanimously on Wednesday in favour of a new EU "electroscrap" recycling law, which includes a ruling directing manufacturers of printers to no longer incorporate chips into their own-brand ink refill cartridges. These chips prevent cartridges produced by other manufacturers from being used in many printers.

The news will be a blow to printer companies like Hewlett-Packard, Epson, Canon and Lexmark, which derive significant portions of their revenues from non-reusable cartridges. Colour printers can be bought for as little as EUR100, but prices charged for refill cartridges tend to start at around EUR30 and rising.

SOURCE - http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/28653.html