Kodak Ends Inkjet Printer Sales, Continues to Sell Ink

Kodak recently announced that it was discontinuing the sales of its inkjet printers, which left many customers worried that the company may discontinue the sale of the ink for these printers as well. Many people bought inkjet printers from Kodak for one simple reason, that being the fact that the ink for these printers was pretty cheap in comparison to others. The good news is that even though the company won't sell any more inkjet printers, it will still continue to sell the ink to customers who have these printers.

Krista Gleason, spokeswoman for Kodak, recently stressed, "Kodak will continue to sell ink to its customers, honor all product warranties, and provide technical support and service. Customer service remains a priority." However, that raises the question of how long this will go on. According to Gleason, "The expected lifetime of the printers," which is three to four years based on industry average.

Kodak added that it anticipates supporting inkjet sales beyond that, as long as consumer demand remains strong. The same thing was said last month when Lexmark announced that it was exiting the inkjet printer business. Even though both companies get some credit for not leaving customers high and dry, this isn't all about customer service.

The real profit for printer and copier companies comes from ink and toner sales. This announcement from Kodak clearly stated that it would continue to sell the ink in an effort to crawl out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. "Kodak has continued to manage its Consumer Inkjet business for profitability, and starting in 2013, it will focus that business on the sale of ink to its installed base," the company said.

Kodak's printers have been considered slower than most of the other ones on the market. Even though picture quality on Kodak devices was very good, other features and capabilities seemed underwhelming for office use. To make things worse, Kodak put these devices up against a ton of new and better devices from companies like Brother, Canon, Epson and HP. Aside from printing photos, Kodak's printers weren't fast enough to be of any real use in an office setting.

IDC's Keith Kmetz stated, "Kodak's market share never achieved the levels the company hoped for, and Kodak's financial struggles made the company's consumer inkjet effort very difficult." These problems sound a lot like the ones faced by Lexmark, where both companies wanted to sell ink and toner for printers and copiers that were mediocre and best.

Source: PCWorld - Kodak printers are gone, but the ink sells on

Lexmark Ditches Inkjet Printer Market, Focuses on Laser Printing Instead

Lexmark semi-recently announced that it was leaving the inkjet printing market altogether, which doesn't mean too much considering the company was never a top contender in the market anyhow. Regardless, the company did announce that it was phasing out its consumer and SOHO inkjet businesses as well as canceling its business inkjet line. With this news, some people are wondering if the world of inkjet printing is dead and therefore the era of laser printers is upon us.

The  good news here, at least for existing Lexmark inkjet customers, is that Lexmark Executive Vice President and President of Imaging Solutions and Services Mark Canning stated that even though the company will no longer be making new inkjet printers, it is not abandoning its current inkjet customers. According to Canning, "We will continue to provide the customers all of the supplies, support, maintenance and technical support. It's not our intention in any way to cut short the value that our customers have purchased from us."

On the other hand, Lexmark's laser printing business is doing well. Despite the company's tough financial times in its two main markets, the laser printing business for Lexmark is growing in both hardware purchases and supplies usage. This brings up the question of whether or not consumers' shift to online is hurting Lexmark's printer business. "Every time things go online, there's more to print," Canning added. "We have a lot of activity around mobile printing, cloud printing, print anywhere, print and release, and managed print services. While these things are shifting online, the volume is increasing content."

Lexmark may not be the only company planning on ditching the inkjet manufacturing business, though they are currently the only ones that have actually come out and said it. Some business analysts believe that Lexmark is making the right decision by ditching this particular industry. In addition to that, a recent increase in Lexmark's stock price is yet another positive indicator that stockholders still have faith in the company.

Source: PC World - Lexmark: Inkjet Printers Are Dead, Long Live Laser Printers

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