Issue 0830/2 – We’ve seen in the article "Dell pushes Total Cost of Printing with inkjet AiOs through the roof!" that Dell is no longer a low-cost inkjet printing option but how does this vary from country to country? We’ve checked Europe out for pricing variation on one of the latest Dell All-in-One inkjet printers and compared what we’ve found against the pricing of a Lexmark model.
Dell pricing is almost precisely identical across the Euro zone and the UK. By and large, variations exist only in the published price by a very small amount to ensure that the tax-inclusive price is the same as in other countries. In the case of the 948w AiO, for example, the ex. tax price varies only between €77.45 in Italy to €78.10 in Germany and the Netherlands. This means that, by the time tax at the various different country rates has been added, the actual purchase price is €92.94 in all countries.
In the UK, pricing is sufficiently accurately pitched to ensure that, once exchange rates have been taken into account, there is a negligible difference in comparative cost.
We also find that the same goes for supplies pricing. The tax inclusive price of high capacity cartridges for the 948 AiO is exactly €23.99 and €36.99 (black/tricolour) in the Euro zone, regardless of the location.
Or is it? There is one exception to the rule!
For some reason, Spain, with its lower rate of tax, at 16%, benefits from a pre-tax price of €77.53, meaning that the full tax-inclusive price is €89.93 – €3.01 (3.2%) lower than in other countries.
Similarly, the tricolour cartridge works out to cost exactly €1 (2.7%) less than in other countries. Overall, this gives Spanish users a 1.4% long term Total Cost of Printing advantage over users in other Euro zone countries.
If we then bring our comparison with the Lexmark X5650 into the equation as well, the interesting point to note is the differences found in street pricing between the Euro zone and the UK. We have focussed just on a comparison between Germany and the UK to keep it simple.
In the UK, it is clear that Lexmark takes a very different view of the market to Lexmark in Germany. This goes particularly for the hardware purchase price but also for cartridge pricing.
Dell vs Lexmark - Germany and UK
Note: All pricing used in this article includes tax at 19% in Germany and 17.5% in the UK. Lexmark prices in each country are average street price.
Whereas these two machines are pegged at pretty much the same level in Germany, we see a 57% price difference in the UK.
Just to normalise the situation a little, the price of the Dell printer in the UK is only a fraction less expensive than the machines in Germany once the exchange rate has been taken into account. What this leaves us with is a situation where Lexmark’s X5650 in the UK is an effective 51% more expensive than either of the machines in Germany, quite apart from the differential with the price of the Dell 948w in the UK.
Moving on to supplies, the nominal mono CPP that Dell has set in the UK is 5.5% lower than the mono CPP at average street price for the Lexmark product, whereas in Germany it is some 23% higher.
Dell vs Lexmark - Germany and UK
Dell’s nominal colour CPP in the UK is far less aggressive in comparison to Lexmark though. It remains higher than the Lexmark colour CPP, as with CPPs in both mono and colour in Germany, but the pricing differential between the two is much closer. Whereas in the UK the Dell colour CPP is 41% higher than the Lexmark colour CPP, in Germany the Dell CPP is an incredible 68% higher!
Taking this through to Total Cost of Printing, what we discover is that Lexmark is particularly good value in Germany, while Dell stands out as a result in Germany, looking to be particularly poor value. This diversity is caused by the higher price of Dell black ink and very much bigger differential between Dell and Lexmark colour ink.
Dell vs Lexmark - Germany and UK
Note that Total Cost of Printing is based on the use of maximum capacity supplies; takes into account any standard, or starter, supplies shipped with the device; and also includes the cost of purchase. All pricing used in this article includes tax at 19% in Germany and 17.5% in the UK. Lexmark prices in each country are average street price.
High hardware pricing from Lexmark in the UK, combined with keen supplies pricing in Germany, results in the Total Cost of Printing for the X5650 in Germany being only a fraction higher in Euro cents than it is in the UK in pence. The maximum difference in this chart is less than 9%, whereas the exchange rate between the two countries is still in the order of 1.25 Euros to the Pound.
Indeed, at the very bottom of our scale, at 100 pages per month and printing almost entirely in black, the X5650 actually costs fewer Euro cents per page to run than UK pence!
Dell’s consistency across Europe (equating to its original aggressive stance in the UK) still shows to a very small extent in terms of the low hardware purchase price that keeps the Total Cost of Printing below the Lexmark position as long as usage of colour ink and page volumes are kept as low as possible.
In summary though, it looks as if we have now seen the end of Dell’s aggressive approach to printing and the start of the company joining the rest of the industry in loading the price of ink. In contrast, Lexmark in the UK appears to be realising that low hardware prices countered by high supplies prices is not a good combination.
~End~
