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

Issue #0824/1 - A couple of weeks ago we ran a cost comparison on the new Brother A3 inkjet Ai0, pitching it against several A4 devices – for want of anything at all to compare it with. In that line-up we included the Hewlett-Packard Colour LaserJet CM1312nfi MFP. We now check out the remarkable CM1312nfi MFP in its own right and pitch it against its own, very limited, competition – Konica Minolta 2590MF and Samsung CLX-3160FN.

Competition is limited because Hewlett-Packard has placed the CM1312nfi MFP into what is developing as a new category. To understand that positioning we have to take a look at pricing, the hardware and its capabilities.

Accessible in the German market for as little as €355 (and can be found in the UK at around £330 and in the US for as little as €400), the CM1312nfi MFP is sure to start being seen as a laser-based equivalent of an inkjet AiO.

Hewlett-Packard
CLJ CM1312nfi MFP

Technically, it is not actually a laser-based anything though. The printing technology used in the CM1312nfi MFP is LED rather than laser, the implication of which is, quite simply, production cost – LED devices are less expensive to build than laser devices, being one reason why Oki has focused on this technology. (Note, ‘laser’ is used as a generic term for toner-based page printers and includes all LED printers)

Regardless of the fact that it is LED technology rather than laser technology, this really is a remarkable price for a toner-based MFP. In Germany, the Samsung CLX-3160FN starts 6.5% above the CM1312nfi MFP, while in the UK pricing starts at around 18% higher. The situation in the US is slightly different. The CLX-3160FN can be bought for just under $450 but the CM1312nfi MFP generally is found at nearer the $500 mark. The exception to this is that Hewlett-Packard itself is offering a $100 instant rebate (i.e. discount) through its HP Home store, putting the price at $399, or about 10% lower than the Samsung.

To find such a highly specified multi-function printer at this price level with PCL and PostScript as standard features is quite astonishing. The main page description language is PCL6 but PCL5e emulation is also included, as is the PostScript 3 emulation (supported by a massive 160MB RAM). Both of the competitors are host-based, yet the CM1312nfi MFP is less expensive to buy in most instances. This offers exceptional value for money to the power-printing micro business and emphasises Hewlett-Packard’s intent that this is a machine designed for the production of in-house marketing collateral in this micro-business environment.

To help these customers further, the CM1312nfi MFP is equipped with a colour LCD display and memory card slots but also a high level of management security. As indicated, the CM1312nfi MFP is close to being a laser version of an inkjet AiO but, at the costs associated with running a laser device, business owners might well wish to restrict access by their employees in a way they perhaps wouldn’t for an inkjet device.

Therefore, the CM1312nfi MFP offers colour copying lockout and photo lockout to prevent unauthorised high-density printing. With the cost of printing full-page A4 photos on an entry-level laser printer approaching the £1 mark, not restricting access could be a costly omission.

Going back to business hard copy basics though, and emphasising its exceptionally high specification, the CM1312nfi MFP is a 4-function device that is network-ready out of the box in addition to the USB 2.0 interfac, and with a 50-page Automatic Document Feeder for copy, scan and fax flexibility and ease of use. These features support PC fax capability and a range of ‘scan-to’ options that, along with ReadIris Pro OCR software, ensure that the CM1312nfi MFP can accomplish almost any hard copy-related task required of a small business environment. It is even equipped for manual duplex printing.

There are perhaps a couple of shortcomings to this machine, however.

Firstly, despite its fast interfaces, large memory and use of ‘instant-on’ fusing technology, the CM1312nfi MFP is not a very fast machine. Not only is its rated engine speeds only 12ppm in mono and 8ppm in colour but it is only capable of producing its first page in mono in 26 seconds from a ready state. In colour this time slows a little further to 32 seconds.

Compare this to the Canon MP610 inkjet device, that produces a first page in just 9 seconds, and the CM1312nfi MFP seems positively pedestrian. However, this may not be considered to be a fair comparison. To compare on a more level footing, the Samsung CLX-3160FN is rated at 14 seconds for a first black page and 26 seconds for a first colour page, while Konica Minolta’s magicolor 2590MF is rated at 13 seconds in mono and 22 seconds in colour.

This brings us to the competition. Because of the high specification of the CM1312nfi MFP, we need to consider 4-function devices only and only those that are network-ready and at a reasonably comparative purchase price.

Samsung
CLX-3160FN

With this new device, Hewlett-Packard comes closer than ever to serving the personal/micro-business market with a toner-based, 4-function, network colour AiO device. The same was true of Samsung when it launched its CLX-3160FN but there is then a significant price gap before we find any other laser devices.

For the purposes of this article, if we define our category as sub-€500 (based on the lowest price found in Germany, including tax), then Konica Minolta’s magicolor 2590MF is the only other machine in the running – just managing to scrape in at €499. Even this is more than 40% higher than the lowest price found on the CM1312nfi MFP, and represents a level above which the classification of personal/micro-business really cannot be justified, pushing the devices firmly into a small business category.

So, this rules out devices from Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, Lexmark, Oki and Xerox. Kyocera does not have an A4 colour laser MFP at all.

There is a temptation to be critical of Kyocera here for not playing in this market at the moment but, to be realistic, we just have to accept that this not a market where many manufacturers will make a profit and that investment in the development and manufacture of a device would be foolish. Kyocera’s stronghold is firmly in the business sector and machines such as the CM1312nfi MFP are pushing the consumer space.

Note that for this level of machine, the mixed mono/colour CPP over three years shown in the accompanying table and chart is calculated on the basis of 500 pages per month; 70% pages in mono and 30% pages in colour; 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 prices are lowest street price in Germany, including tax.

Moving on to Total Cost of Printing, cartridges for the CM1312nfi MFP are rated at 2,200 pages for the black and 1,400 pages for each of the colours. This is significantly higher than toners for the Samsung device but very significantly lower than the high capacity cartridges for the Konica Minolta 2590FN – rated at 4,500 pages each. Even the 2590’s shipping cartridges are larger than the cartridges for the CM1312nfi MFP, at 1,500 pages each.

This fact has a major impact on Total Cost of Printing, as we see in the two following charts.

In terms of purchase price, we have seen that the CM1312nfi MFP undercuts the competitors by as much as 29%. But, this always has a payback.

In fact, the payback in the case of the CM1312nfi MFP is not as high as it might have been. Nominal CPP on the CM1312nfi MFP is somewhat higher than on the magicolor 2590MF, whereas the payback applied by Samsung on its CLX-3160FN pushes the nominal CPP some 23% higher (mono toner – 9% for colour printing) even than the CM1312nfi MFP, despite its higher initial purchase price.

Total Cost of Printing - 4-function Laser AiO

By the time we roll this together with the purchase price of the hardware, and run the analysis over a three-year period of ownership, the magicolor’s overall Cost of Printing undercuts both of the cheaper models by 12% and 21% respectively. Hewlett-Packard’s CM1312nfi MFP sits comfortably in the middle of the group throughout, meaning that the combination of very low purchase price and reasonable supplies costs make it an attractive option for the low-budget customer.

Running the analysis for the range of monthly page volumes recommended by Hewlett-Packard for this device, 250 to 1,500 pages per month, we see that the magicolor sits well below the cost of the other two printers almost throughout the page volume range. The only time it is more costly is when the page volume is so low that the high hardware purchase price is the more significant factor.

Total Cost of Printing - 4-function laser AiO

Hewlett-Packard’s new CM1312nfi MFP continues to sit comfortably in the middle ground for those customers looking for a low entry-point without supplies costing the earth.

Especially with the low purchase price on the new Hewlett-Packard device, we can reckon that these AiOs are increasingly designed specifically for low-volume users who particularly want laser output rather than inkjet.

For some users drawn to laser technology for its perceived higher print quality, page volumes could very easily be as low as a few pages per day – perhaps not amounting to more than 50 pages in a month (say averaging between two and three pages per day) – rather than the substantial small business-oriented volume levels shown in the chart above.

So, let’s run the TCP model again for a range of monthly page volumes between about one page per (working) day right up to the lower level set by Hewlett-Packard, 250 pages per month (12 pages per working day).

Total Cost of Printing - 4-function laser AiO

Now, quite frankly, this gives us a problem because these printers will, inevitably, find their way into these sorts of environments. More than half a Euro is a huge amount to pay for every page printed. In fact, at 25 pages per month, the user would never even buy any toner for any of these machines, so the 32 to 56 cents per page printed over three years represents a hardware-only cost! This is the reason that the magicolor 2590MF appears so expensive at the lowest volumes.

If we push the monthly volume up to 50 pages per month, a black toner for the Samsung would be needed but no other toners. By the time we reach 100 pages per month, a Samsung owner would have needed to have bought two black and one each of the colour toners, while the Hewlett-Packard owner would have needed only a black toner.

Konica Minolta
magicolor 2590MF

Where the Konica Minolta machine is concerned, only when the total page count rises to 125 per month would the owner even need to buy a new black toner and about 140 pages per month would see the first batch of colour toners being required.

So, what does this mean?

For the very low volume user, it can mean only one thing – laser technology just is not worth the cost!

We only have to throw a few 4-function inkjet devices into the equation to see that costs are reduced by at least 50%, and up to 70%, at low usage levels by sticking with an appropriate technology (for further information on appropriate levels of usage, see "Appropriate to use – avoiding a huge financial gaff").

Here we have put together a group of typical 4-function inkjet devices, generally aiming for the entry-level 4-function device from each manufacturer. Unfortunately, at this end of the market not all devices are network-ready but network-ready is available from Brother, even at this low purchase price. In addition, Epson has a wired/wireless network option for the DX9400F and there are network devices available from Hewlett-Packard and also wireless devices in the Lexmark range.

In the table below, we’ve pushed the upper end of the page volumes to 1,000 pages per month to illustrate that, even at reasonable business volumes, a 4-function inkjet AiO will offer users cost savings over a low-end colour laser device.

Total Cost of Printing - 4-function inkjet AiO

In fact, even at 1,000 pages per month, all of the inkjet devices here will cost less over three years than any of the laser devices.

It should be noted that these inkjet devices are all general purpose 4-function devices and do not include any device from the HP88-based Officejet Pro family from Hewlett-Packard. If any of the Officejet Pro devices, using the HP88 ink series, were considered, the Total Cost of Printing would be reduced even more – the long-term cost being 50% of the cost of the magicolor 2590MF at 25 pages per month and 57% lower at 1,000 pages per month.

Compared to the range of inkjets in this group, an Officejet Pro model would, of course be more expensive at 25 pages per month (around double the cost of the mid-field players) because of the high purchase cost involved. But, at 1,000 pages per month, it would be as much as 42% less costly even than the Officejet J5780.

Hewlett-Packard, not surprisingly, does not like to compare its own inkjet device with its own laser devices because it engenders competition within the company. However, customers must consider their own circumstances rather than the manufacturer’s internal sensibilities.

What we have in the Colour LaserJet CM1312nfi MFP is a superb addition to the Hewlett-Packard range that extends its customer reach and offers those with relatively low volume printing needs a very high specification, with power-printing capabilities, at a competitive cost for a laser printer.

Potential buyers must just be aware of the costs relative to equivalent inkjet devices and make an informed choice.

~End~

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 1:54 pm and is filed under New Products, Comparisons, Total Cost of Printing. 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.