Issue #0521/4 - To emphasise its price aggression, Dell is cutting prices and offering free printers.
As if to emphasise the previous article (please note that this article was written before seeing the reports referred to), Dell’s printer marketing activities have taken a turn frequently reserved for products with stock levels that are too high and not clearing fast enough.
In Europe, buyers of certain Dell printers are able to ‘buy one, get one half price’. The promotion is available on the two four-pass colour laser printers, the 3000cn and 3100cn, and on the mono Laser Printer 1700.
There are also several printers offered with 15% or 20% reductions and all Dell laser printers are currently offered with free delivery.
Dell’s promotions in the US take the form of giving the printers away, with free shipping, to anyone buying selected Dimension or Optiplex desktop PCs or any Inspiron or Latitude notebook PC. This follows an example set by Epson, which has given inkjet printers and AiOs away to buyers of colour laser printers for several years. Needless to say, this is a clever ruse because it obliges the customer to purchase supplies of ink cartridges for the inkjet device as well as toner cartridge for the laser printer, thus increasing sales of lucrative consumables!
Unfortunately that particular promotion in the US only offers the Dell 720 inkjet printer with the computers, so, far more significant is the 20% knocked off the $1,000 Dell 5100cn colour laser printer and the $549 3100cn.
This 20% off promotion is applicable to most business, ink jet printers and ink jet All-in-One products but at the bottom end of the range, the $10 saving on the $79 Dell 922 Photo AiO represents only 12.7% of purchase price.
As a final comment, by way of anecdote, Dell UK has yet another problem with its web site – it is advertising colour laser printers ‘from £69’! At that price I’ll take a lorry load!
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