Epson’s new printers with refillable tanks turn business model upside down, junking reliance on expensive branded ink cartridges for profit

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The 50 million inkjet cartridges that British households go through every year could become a thing of the past after Epson unveiled new ink tanks it claims will revolutionise the economics of home printing.

Until now manufacturers such as Epson and Canon have sold home printers at significantly below cost price, relying on their expensive branded ink cartridges to make a profit, but Epson has now decided to turn its business model upside down, making its printers with refillable tanks that will last a typical user two years – based on a household printing 200 pages a month.

Epson’s new inkjet printers will be priced to make a profit on sale – starting at £249 compared with the £70-£80 typical high street price.

But the Japanese company said users would save 60-65% from using a printer with a tank compared with buying cartridges, and are free to refill the tank with non-Epson branded ink when it runs out. The tank adds about a quarter to the size of the printer.

The move comes amid a consumer backlash that has seen households switch to buying cheaper generic cartridges, and declining sales as users share images on social media rather than printing them.

In 2012 Lexmark quit the home printer market after heavy losses, swiftly followed by Kodak.

Sales at Seiko Epson, based in Nagano, Japan, fell by 25% between 2009 and 2013, as consumers reined back purchases of ink cartridges, but recovered partly in 2014.

The group moved back into profit in the financial year to March 2014 after making losses in three of the previous five years.

Around 90% of global sales of inkjet printers are accounted for by Epson, Canon and HP, with around 2.6m units sold in Britain last year.

But the market for home printers has fallen into decline as users have switched to alternative means of sharing and using images. Instead of printing photos at home using expensive ink and paper, images are increasingly being shared on Facebook or Instagram. Meanwhile, print-at-home tickets for things such as airline boarding or cinema entry are being rapidly replaced by apps on smartphones and tablets.

Households have also baulked at rising ink prices, with many switching to cheaper generics. A Guardian investigation last year into branded inkjet cartridges found that manufacturers have progressively reduced the amount of ink in each cartridge, forcing consumers to buy more.

The investigation found that some colour cartridges come with as little as 2ml of ink. New printers are also often loaded with encrypted chip technology designed to make consumers buy branded cartridges, with the companies accused of using aggressive marketing tactics to discourage refills from cheaper generic ink makers.

There is an intense battle between the main manufacturers – HP, Epson and Canon – and “remanufacturers”, who refill cartridges to sell at a discount. Remanufacturers have grabbed a third of UK sales, at the same time as counterfeit cartridges from China are flooding into the country.

Epson said that households which are relatively heavy users of cartridge inks would find themselves making significant savings by ditching their printer and buying one with a tank.

But households with high printing needs wwould also want to consider switching to laser printers which are more expensive to buy but whose per-page printing costs are much lower.

Epson said its new tank models do not replace its cartridge models, which it will continue to manufacture.

Product manager Simon Hanley said: “Complementing our lineup of existing products, these models are ideal for home and small office customers who want to print everyday documents, such as recipes, homework, emails and maps, and for whom price and convenience are key factors. With two years’ worth of ink included, users know where they stand.”

In its 2014 annual report, Epson said: “Inkjet printer demand contracted in North America and Japan but drifted sideways in Europe.”