Kodak Ink Cartridges

The market we work, eat, sleep and dream in.... the beloved land of Printer Ink..... is supported by a large number of manufacturers.

But all of our news relates to HP ink and Epson ink technology, and occasional genius in Canon ink cartridges when they pop up, whilst other manufacturers seem to play nicely in the background. But could Kodak be making a concerted push into the "big time". Be interested to hear from any Kodak users out there and their thoughts/experiences with the hardware, especially in relation to my comments. As, obviously, my thoughts will be included, as everyone wants to know what I think... all of the time... :-)

Why should we look at Kodak?

This is only regarding Kodaks printing department, specialising in Kodak Ink , with the rest of the company struggling. Often marketed as some of the cheapest printers to run, I must ashamedly raise my hand and admit I have never had chance to play with a Kodak printer yet, and thus have fairly limited knowledge about them. They must be doing something right though, with sales doubling in 2009 to 2 million hardware units.Indeed, one of their photo printers won the BBCs Gadget Show photo printing test involving a select sample of printers from different manufacturers, not a bad claim to fame!

But what are they doing with their machines? Fairly new to the market, they have gone through 3 generations of designs for their All-in-One printers, and the latest offerings from the ESP printer range seem to be performing very strongly.These, in addition to some brilliant general-use home printers and portable photo printers, help cater for multiple end users.

Decent functionality, good print quality and scanning quality, typically good photo printing (which you would expect judging from Kodaks expertise in cameras) point to a company with a bright future in the market.

If only Kodak could influence others...

I love Kodak for manning up and being nigh-on the only manufacturer to price their printers reasonably high, and make the consumables cheaper. This is how the market should be! Most people know how to take care of their hardware in this technology-obsessed age, and I'm sure I'm not alone in preferring to pay more upfront for a piece of hardware, which I can look after and be rewarded for making it last with cheaper running costs.

But?

flexes Kodak stamp on my appreciation, throw dirt in my eyes with their cheap cartridges, and just ruin the entire value offering by persisting with tri/quad/quintuple colour cartridges. Why Kodak? We could have had something beautiful...

They advertise it as a "convenient ink system". That is fine for their great range of portable printers I guess, space saving and what not. But Office and home All-In-Ones.... famed for photo printing..... you're really not going to plump for individual cartridges? When you stop printing my pretty pictures of the sea because the magenta has run out, and I have to go buy a cartridge even though you and I both know lots of cyan is remaining, will not make me a happy customer. In fact I may sit and stare at happy users of the Canon Pixma ink with a slight hint of jealousy.

A good start. Don't give up Kodak

I hear good things about Kodak. I see good things about Kodak. The published figures from Kodaks printing division support these good things. For affordable, quality printing, you're on the up. Just please help me stop wasting ink, you're better than that.

A class action suit has been bought against Kodak due to misleading information on ink yields in their massive advertisement campaigns. You've doubtlessly seen them on the television, and one customer has had enough of the figures!

The customer, Daniela Apostol, discovered that Kodak printers use a small amount of coloured ink even when printing black, which makes their page yield claims completely meaningless for the colour cartridge. Indeed, a Kodak 10B black cartridge is advertised as approximately 425 pages, but there is no mention of the impact these 425 pages will have on your cartridge. This has pushed Daniela to the edge, forcing the class action suit, and my how it has been done...

The lawsuit amazingly covers all of the following claims of a breach of law:

1. Violation of The Consumers Legal Remedies Act
2. Violation of The Unfair Competition Law
3. Violation of The False Advertising Law
4. Unjust Enrichment and Fraudulent Concealment/Equitable Estoppel

Adding to Kodak's woes

We recently blogged about the the struggles Kodak are experiencing, and well publicised action on their famous tagline "the cheapest manufacturer ink" won't do them any assistance. With sales flagging and the company struggling, this announcement is so badly timed it's as if Kodak has incited some form of divine wraith.

It's a pity really, as Kodak's line of ESP printers are great All-in-one machines, and the simplicity of their labelling of Kodak ink is something all manufacturers should follow. Simple labels of Kodak 10 ink or Kodak 30 ink cartridges, with standard and high capacity versions of each, makes being a Kodak customer pretty simple...

But is this fair?

Whilst the adverts are misleading, it must be emphasised that Kodak are not the only manufacturer that uses coloured ink for black prints.

In fact, many of you readers will know that the vast majority of home printers nowadays will use a small amount of colour when printing black, which leads to the incredibly frustrating scenario of being unable to print a plain black document if your colour cartridge is empty. (If you are interested in why printers do this, read details of why printers use colour to print black.)

Ultimately, as long as this class action suit paves the way for more realistic advertisements, further details on why manufacturer original ink costs so much when third-party prices are so low, and explanations for why they use colour ink for black prints, this lawsuit can only be a good thing for the industry and it's consumers.... unless you're Kodak.

Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK) have reported their 2010 performance results, with Kodak continuing their strong 2009 printing division performance which we reported on back in August. Whilst certain key performance figures may be down, such as Full-year sales being 6% down on 2009, the divisions directly involved in the Kodak ink cartridges we all know and love have been pushing on strongly.

After sales doubled in their printing division to 2 million hardware units, the consumer inkjet and ink revenue grew by 35% in 2010. Coupled with a doubling of gross profit from Kodak Ink during the same time period, it appears the company’s restructuring is progressing desirably.

Is Kodak Ink all they have?

The downward spiral of other Kodak divisions however continued to plummet:

• 4^th Quarter revenue down 25%
• Digital Revenue division down 25%
• Traditional business revenue down 25%
• Continuing operations earnings down 92% (primarily down to lower intellectual property licensing revenues)

It remains to be seen whether falls across many of their core divisions can be offset by growth in printing divisions and other targeted areas.

While other manufacturers actively expand their Laser Printing divisions, dedicated photo ranges or other specific markets, it really is hard to see Kodak’s next step.

With only one notable cartridge range, spearheaded by the Kodak No 10 Black and Colour twin pack, and printers which neither excel in an office environment or photo printing, 2010s “impressive” performance may be the highpoint before the darker times that follow.

There is one highlight though. Ignoring the announcement of Kodak’s Research and Development expenses decreasing by nearly 10%, there is an increased investment in Commercial Inkjet and Workflow Software, a good sign of things to come.

Maybe they have something hidden up their sleeve than yet another ESP taking a number 10 ink... just maybe...

Could it soon be closing time on the fabulously cheap, excellent value Kodak ink cartridges?

We reported on Kodak's performance back in February regarding the failing departments within their company, even though the printing department was going strong. It has now become public knowledge that Kodak has recently hired law firm Jones Day - specialists in bankruptcies and restructuring options.

With a share price of $1.12, down from an all-time high of $94, this does not bode well for Kodak. The company insists Jones day is simply an adviser in helping it restructure itself as a digital photography and printing company, but investors are obviously not so sure.

Where did it go wrong for Kodak?

Since being the inventor of the world's first digital camera in 1975, Kodak have badly lagged behind the amazing explosion of film-less photography and have been unable to secure a foothold in the market since. With attempts to diversify and cut costs, the company still doesn't quite know where it stands and where it wants to be.

Ultimately when you consider the fascinating statistic that only 1 company remains from the original Dow Jones Index 100 (General Electric), maybe it shouldn't come as such a shock that such a well known company can fall. But it'd be such a shame when their new range of Kodak hero printers looked so promising...

If you have any fond memories of your first ever "Kodak moment" comment below as a possible fond farewell to this established company!