3 ms·
What if the commonly understood story - ink subsidises printers - wasn’t true? What if printers are actually built and sold at a sustainable price today before
by CraigJPerry 5y ago
What if the commonly understood story - ink subsidises printers - wasn’t true? What if printers are actually built and sold at a sustainable price today before considering ink?
If you pulled that off in any other context - hey the only reason we can produce a $6 sandwich toaster on the shelf in any big store is by committing customers to use our premium toasting bread - you’d be a genius of marketing.
I guess I’m just struggling with the idea that large (and therefore historically quite risk averse) companies would choose to enter such competition with peers (sell printers at less than cost) given the very obvious risk that someone else will make premium toaster bread / ink. It’s a hell of a gamble in an established firm.
- shigawire 5y agoThe average person can barely setup a printer let alone worrying about pirating cartridges or doing some other workaround.
- YPPH 5y agoThat's why I qualified it with at least as the narrative goes. It's an assumption in favour of the manufacturer. It's even worse if it's not true. If it's not true, they are selling their DRM-protected product at cost price + margin and double dipping by selling exorbitantly priced cartridges.