Aftermarketers Cut Time to Market
by Cortney Kasuba · Lyra Research · June 1, 2008 - page(s): 54-55
The chemical toner market has experienced consistent activity since the late 1990s, with many vendors, including HP, Konica Minolta, Lexmark, OKI and Xerox, introducing various generations of their chemical toner products. Printer life spans are becoming shorter, and vendors are continually enhancing both hardware and supplies. In its most recent analyst conference call, Xerox boasted that it introduced 18 new color products in 2007 and plans to introduce even more in 2008.
The color toner cartridge market is expected to more than triple over the next five years, so this is certainly a lucrative area for imaging supplies vendors. As OEMs scramble to introduce new hardware at every price point imaginable, aftermarket companies are working hard to introduce compatible or remanufactured toner cartridges that work with these new machines.
Over the last several years, aftermarket companies have dramatically reduced the time required to introduce compatible or remanufactured cartridges. The points on the chart on the facing page indicate the dates when the OEMs launched their original toner cartridge (X-axis) and the dates when Lyra became aware that the first aftermarket compatible or remanufactured versions of the cartridges (Y-axis) were available.
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This article will be available online on 12/01/2008
