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Brief
Eyeing the refill pie
When the prices of printers are coming down, why is the same
not happening with ink cartridges? The answer is simple: printer manufacturers
get the bulk of their profits from selling cartridges and not printers. That’s
where the refill market comes into the picture.
According to Lyra Research, about 1.3 billion ink cartridges are sold worldwide
every year. The report says that such sales generated a revenue of $30.1 billion
in 2005. The marketshare of refilled and re-engineered ink cartridges is projected
to increase to 29 percent in North America by 2009, up from 23 percent in 2005.
In India, companies doing business in printers and cartridges include HP, Epson,
Samsung, Canon, Xerox and Ricoh.
Though in India the marketshare of refilled and re- engineered ink cartridges
is yet to be estimated, Jet Cartridges, which came into existence a year back,
seems to be doing brisk business.
The company’s customers include Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mahindra
Intertrade, Essjay International, UTI Bank, Bank of India and Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceuticals.
Jet has some 250 models in the inkjet segment and more than 140 in the area
of laserjets.
Recycling cartridges
The company has an R&D team that works on the various inks available in
the market. They maintain cartridges for fax and xerox machines, and claim to
offer even those cartridges for which OEMs have discontinued supply.
States Vinod Ravaria, Director of the company, “Recycling is done through
automated machines which are operated by qualified staff. Indian customers want
the printed output to be as dark as possible. Keeping this in mind, Jet has
developed ink that is darker.”
For all printers
Jet’s pricing strategy is to keep ink cartridge costs 10 to 50 percent
lower than the original ones. The price range is Rs 120 to 10,000 per cartridge.
“We provide cartridges for all sorts of printers. They are compatible with
those of HP, Epson, Xerox and Ricoh. Our USP is best quality and price,”
says Ravaria.
Currently, Jet is working with 500 dealers all over India and providing services
(refills) at the customer’s venue within two hours of placing an order.
Ravaria says that Jet’s inkjet cartridges are formulated for specific printers.
Inks used are clog-free for smoother working and longer life. They dry quickly
on both paper and film printouts.
The company ensures full technical support till the cartridge is installed in
the customer’s printer.
Jet is ISO 9001 certified. Comments Ravaria, “This will help us in retaining
the standard and quality of work.”
Vertical-focus
The company is focussing on all kinds of verticals. It is facing some hurdles
in the government sector. K Prabhakar, the company’s Business Development
Manager explains, “OEMs have created barriers which bind the customers
to the company for some years, else they stop support. Hence, convincing the
government departments to buy our product is a difficult task. However, the
corporate segment has been open.”
—Megha Banduni
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