As you’ve probably noticed, Wholesale
Widgets Inc has been slowly phasing out HP.
Why? Aside from the yearly price
increases (sources show in 2012 HP raised their legacy items as high as 17%) as
well as HP making it more difficult for distributors to buy their product, and
now HP is now updating the firmware on the printers without the consumer being
offered the choice to do so. In the
past, customers had the option to elect to update the firmware on their
printers, even having to manually download it themselves, but now consumers
with Microsoft 10 are noticing that it is allowing permission for HP to make
firmware updates as part of the of the consistent MS updates that people are
used to, eliminating your option to choose.
Case in
point:
Starting on September 13, 2016, reports began circulating that an HP
firmware update on OfficeJet and OfficeJet Pro inkjet printers and all-in-ones
using the HP 934/935, HP 950/951, and HP 970/971 cartridge families prevented
the use of many third-party cartridges.
“HP has confirmed
that new firmware that was considered a bug by some, making HP printers
incompatible with third-party ink cartridges, was not a bug but an intentional
update and there was not going to be another one that would resolve the
problem. The company said that the initial update was conceived last year and
was pre-programmed in some of the printers and part of a firmware update in
others.” Source: Industry News,
“Whatever method HP used to make
changes to firmware that caused problems for third-party cartridges users worldwide
starting on September 13, it seems clear that HP will continue to use firmware
updates as a means of preventing the use of non-OEM cartridges with third-party
chipsets. It also appears that more of these firmware updates are happening
automatically, without the end user necessarily being aware of the changes.
HP’s goal is clear—to keep as much of its installed
base as possible buying HP original cartridges. Why would the firm want to do
anything else? We should not expect a world in which HP actually makes things
simple for the aftermarket and aftermarket cartridges users. To put it
colloquially—it ain’t gonna happen.
Thus, aftermarket chipmakers and third-party cartridges
makers and resellers will face an ongoing challenge anytime an OEM like HP updates
firmware. Yet, third-party chipmakers seem up for the challenge—they are
designing more firmware resistant chips and redesigning chips as necessary
rapidly after firmware updates. HP developing new firmware as barriers and the
aftermarket doing its best to jump the hurdles are just part of the aftermarket
industry’s unique market dynamics. “ Source: Christina Bonadio, Executive
Editor Actionable Intelligence.
Wholesale Widgets Inc is proud to offer our customers as many choices
as possible to ensure you get the cartridges you need at the low prices you
want! Currently other printer
manufacturers have yet to get as aggressive as HP. We recommend researching printers based on
your needs and their capabilities in order to make an informed decision.
Wholesale Widgets Inc does not endorse any brand. We are a wholesale distributor of imaging
supplies and are happy to provide our customers with top quality compatible as
well as OEM supplies for your machine.
