TCPglobal - news, views and issues on total cost of printing

Issue #0501/1
1.1) Dell reduces prices on printers
1.2) Epson reduces AcuLaser 4100 by 26%
1.3) Hewlett-Packard reduces low-end mono laser printers
1.4) Lexmark reduces prices on colour laser printers

Significant price reductions, particularly on single-pass workgroup colour laser printers, intensify the competition between manufacturers attempting to win market share.

As we enter the New Year, it looks as though printer manufacturers are turning up the heat in the bid to win market share from competitors.

This is displaying itself in the form of significant price reductions from key manufacturers such as Dell, Epson, Hewlett-Packard and Lexmark. There are no changes from companies like Brother, Konica Minolta, Kyocera Mita or Xerox.

1.1) Dell again takes aggressive stance

Around the world Dell has either reduced prices or introduced special offers through the month of January. A particularly aggressive stance is being taken by Dell in certain areas as we see reductions of almost 50% on an All-in-One product and 20% on a colour laser product.

In the UK, reductions are focussed on the colour laser products but also include the top-end mono workgroup laser printer (W5300n).

	Old Price	New Price	Change
5100cn	£699	£559	20.0%
3100cn	£309	£289	6.5%
3000cn	£259	£239	7.7%
W5300n	£779	£659	15.4%

There are also special offers on All-in-One products and the new dye sublimation photo printer.

	Old Price	New Price	Change
AiO 962	£101	£71	29.7%
AiO 942	£84	£67	20.2%
AiO 922	£59	£30	49.2%
Photo Printer 540	£118	£106	10.2%

Around Europe, reductions tend to come in the form of special offers. However, in Germany there are 15% reductions on mono laser printers.

These special offers are due to end on 26th January in the UK and 25th January in continental Europe, fuelling speculation that this could be a last ditch attempt aimed at boosting sales in the usually slow post-Christmas month of January in order to meet the 5 million unit sales target set for the fiscal year due to close at the end of January.

Somewhat surprisingly, in the US there are few special offers and no price reductions.

1.2) Epson reduces AcuLaser 4100 by 26%

Also targeting the workgroup colour segment for aggressive action is Epson, with price reductions of up to 26% on the single-pass AcuLaser 4100.

	Old Price	New Price	Change
AcuLaser 4100	£1,349	£999	25.9%
AcuLaser 4100 PS	£1,629	£1,199	26.4%
AcuLaser 4100 T	£1,949	£1,599	18.0%

UK	Purchase	Nominal CPP		Mixed mono/colour CPP over 3 years
Brother HL-4200CN	£1,599	Mono Colour	1.39 pence 5.89 pence	3.57 pence
Dell Colour Laser Printer 5100cn	£559	Mono Colour	0.62 pence 4.33 pence	1.89 pence
Epson AcuLaser C3000N	£739	Mono Colour	1.28 pence 7.42 pence	3.44 pence
Epson AcuLaser C4000	£959	Mono Colour	1.29 pence 7.68 pence	3.69 pence
Epson AcuLaser C4100	£999	Mono Colour	1.03 pence 7.33 pence	3.22 pence
Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 3700dn	£1,359	Mono Colour	1.63 pence 7.37 pence	4.08 pence
Konica Minolta magicolor 5430DL (with added duplex option)	£934	Mono Colour	1.41 pence 7.47 pence	3.75 pence
Kyocera Mita FS-C5016DN	£1,525	Mono Colour	0.76 pence 3.24 pence	2.04 pence
Lexmark C762dn	£1,319	Mono Colour	1.54 pence 7.48 pence	3.41 pence
Oki C5200n (with added duplex option)	£867	Mono Colour	1.38 pence 7.42 pence	3.62 pence
Oki C7350n (with added duplex option)	£1,239	Mono Colour	1.38 pence 6.36 pence	3.35 pence
Xerox Phaser 6250DP	£1,479	Mono Colour	1.32 pence 7.17 pence	3.62 pence
Xerox Phaser 8400DP (solid ink)	£1,189	Mono Colour	1.08 pence 8.05 pence	3.84 pence

Note that for this level of machine, the mixed mono/colour CPP over three years shown in the accompanying table is calculated on the basis of 5,000 pages per month using maximum capacity toners, takes into account any standard, or starter, toner cartridges shipped with the printer and includes the purchase price.

Dell’s reductions extend its lead in offering the lowest long term Total Cost of Printing. Epson’s reductions push the AcuLaser 4100 firmly to the bottom of the price range occupied by the main pack, while the Lexmark reductions bring the C762dn more into line with the majority of competitors.

Recent supplies increases from Hewlett-Packard have pushed the LaserJet 3700dn further out above the competition.

1.3) Hewlett-Packard reduces personal and workgroup mono laser printers

Hewlett-Packard this month has reduced pricing on low-end personal and mid-range mono laser printers and also on selected consumer products, including PhotoSmart All-in-One devices and standalone printers as well as one of the OfficeJet models.

Laser

Low end models affected by the reductions are the LaserJet 1000 series, LaserJet 1160 and LaserJet 1300 series. Reductions around the Euro zone range between 8% and 18% with the highest reductions being on the LaserJet 1010. In general, progressing higher up the price range reduces the percentage reduction such that the LaserJet 1320tn experiences a reduction of 8.3%.

Outside the Euro zone, these models experience reductions ranging from 1% to 21%, depending on market conditions and exchange rate fluctuations. Poland has the highest reductions on the LaserJet 1000 series while tending to have lower reductions on the LaserJet 1160 and 1300 series. Lowest reductions on the 1160 and 1300 series are in Turkey, ranging between only 1.2% and 2.3%. Apart from those specifics, reductions follow the same trend as within the Euro zone.

Reductions on mid-range models (LaserJet 2400 series, LaserJet 4250 and LaserJet 4350) follow the same general principle within the Euro zone as the low-end models with reductions ranging from 9% to 19%. Exceptions to the rule are the top model within each of the LaserJet 4250 and 4350 ranges (dtnsl models), which are heavily reduced, by over 18% and 15% respectively.

Changes outside Euro zone again range from just below 2% to a high of 20% - but not all countries are affected. Poland benefits from reductions matching those in most other countries on the LaserJet 2400 series but is hard done by on the LaserJet 4250 and 4350, with reductions of only 5% to 15% against the 9% to 19% found in most other countries.

Also hard done by are the UK and Switzerland where reductions amount to 4.5% to 15%.

Reductions outside the Euro zone on the LaserJet 2400 series are consistent across the Eastern European countries, where currency exchanges are based on the Euro. Russia, together with the Middle Eastern and African countries, where currency exchanges are based on the US Dollar, do not all have reductions on all models and reductions are limited to 1.8% to 7%.

By complete contrast, most of the DesignJet models suffer price increases, of up to 17%, in most non-European territories. There are, however, minor reductions on certain products in certain countries – mostly the low-end DesignJets (100, 130 and 430) but also on the DesignJet 5500. These reductions range from 0.5% to 3% and are effective in several Eastern European countries.

Ink jet

Scattered reductions (11% to 15%) bring some of the abnormally high country pricing within the Euro zone more into line with the majority of Euro zone countries, while other reductions, of up to 20%, present pricing to undercut other countries and others leapfrog from being the most expensive in the region to being the least expensive.

For instance:

• the DeskJet 6540d is reduced by 12%, from €172 to €151, while the other countries retain a price around the €172 mark.
• for a number of products Ireland is the most expensive place to buy in the region. Some of these products are reduced in price by anything up to 22% to leapfrog several of the other countries so that pricing is placed in the lower end of the range. Other products retain their high pricing in Ireland.
• products like the PhotoSmart 2610 AiO and 2710 AiO, priced towards the high end of the range in Finland and the Baltics, now leapfrog the major western European countries with reductions around 13% so that these countries have the lowest pricing by up to that 13%. Spain and Portugal, again originally priced at the high end, have around 8% to 9% to place them in the middle of the price range.

Fairly widespread price reductions are applied to products such as the PhotoSmart 7760 and 8450 printers. These prices are reduced by up to 20% in most countries in the region. The same applies to the two new compact (4×6) inkjet photo printers (PhotoSmart 325 and 375), which are reduced by up to 19% and 9% respectively in most countries.

Only one product is reduced in absolutely every country in the region. This is the OfficeJet 6110 AiO, which is reduced by between 12% and 18% across the Euro zone and between 11% and 18% outside the Euro zone.

Finally, Sweden sees blanket 2% reductions on most laser and inkjet hardware products that are otherwise unaffected by the reductions referred to. However, the Swedish do not benefit from any reductions to consumables pricing.

1.4) Lexmark reduces prices on all business laser printers

Lexmark has reduced pricing on its entire range of business printers, All-in-Ones and MFPs.

~End~

This entry was posted on Friday, January 14th, 2005 at 12:02 am and is filed under Hardware, Pricing, Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.