Eggpp.com

Ten years ago, the most popular printer type was an inkjet printer. Companies like Hewlett Packard and Dell would literally give away free printers to their clients if they would purchase a laptop or desktop from them. Why would these companies give such popular products away for free? Primarily because these major companies never make their profits from selling the printer. They main profit area occurs when they sell an inkjet cartridge to their clients. Everyone likes free things, so it was almost guaranteed that a consumer will be using the printer on a regular basis. There was no reason for someone not to use the printer.

This was an ingenious strategy that definitely worked out in their favor. Consumers were not going to go an purchase a replacement printer since they already had one that was sufficient for their needs. Not to mention that the printer was free, so they did not have to incur any costs besides purchasing replacement ink cartridges. An inkjet cartridge is nowhere near as expensive today as it was ten years ago, but this could also be attributed to the decline in popularity for inkjet printers. Due to their high page yield, laserjet printers have taken the position of number one printer type away from the inkjet.

This has been a victory for the printer manufacturers. Laser toner is significantly more expensive than ink cartridges, so the OEM is actually earning more profits due to the success of laser printers. You can now purchase an ink cartridge at a much lower price that makes it much more manageable than in years past. With the economy being so fragile, it is important to be able to save money wherever you can. Sadly, manufacturers will not be giving away free laser printers any time soon, but we can always hope.