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addition, the manufacturer’s warranty
could be invalidated, meaning that if a
machine breaks, which it may well do if
counterfeit consumables are used, there’s
no comeback.
“By purchasing counterfeit goods, you
could unwittingly be supporting organised
crime and trafficking gangs, as the two are
closely linked.”
Kevin Weaver:
“Counterfeiting and piracy
generally cheat consumers of the quality
they are entitled to expect. The impact
can be seen across different stages of the
supply chain – for the end customer, in
potential damage to hardware through
the use of such products (normally
unwittingly purchased) and invalidation
of the hardware warranty; for distribution
partners (distributors and resellers), in
damage to their reputation from handling
and supplying such goods and in potential
financial and legal issues from supplying
such goods; and for the OEM, in damage
to brand reputation – the products are
marketed as OEM originals, so when
things go wrong the brand owner is the
immediate focus for blame.”
Mark Ash:
“Counterfeit supply
manufacturers aren’t leading innovation
in the industry, device manufacturers are,
and that’s a direct result of the significant
time and money they invest in R&D.
Counterfeit products and ‘new built clones’
are causing the entry-level market to
collapse, with the result that manufacturers
are starting to withdraw from that end of
the market. This results in less innovative
products, which affects the consumer in
the long run. What’s more, counterfeit
imaging products are not only likely to be
sub-standard, they can damage the print
device too.”
Deyon Antoine,
Product Manager,
Toshiba
:
“The customer is always the
party who suffers the most when it
comes to counterfeit products. The quality
of counterfeit and non-recommended
products is never guaranteed. With the
potential of damage to a device from
cheaper or poorly made materials, users
can experience higher levels of downtime
and therefore lower productivity. An
increase in TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)
is common, with consumables likely to
need replacing more frequently. Most
commonly, users will suffer from a dramatic
drop in print quality, with blurry text,
smudging and poor colour matching.”
How can we prevent counterfeit
products from entering the supply
chain?
Andrew Hall:
“Ensure supplies are
sourced only from authorised OKI
distributors/partners.”
Nigel Allen:
“Counterfeit products
are increasingly hard to spot, so we
would advise resellers and customers
to be suspicious of consumables that
do not have KYOCERA labelling or an
unrealistically low price. If in doubt, our
team is available to answer any questions
or verify suspect products.”
Kevin Weaver:
“OEMs invest
significant amounts of money and time
in both product technology (e.g.
Xerox
introduces printed-memory labels to fight
counterfeiting
) and packaging to make it
difficult for the counterfeiters to succeed.
This is aimed at limiting the ability of
counterfeiters to produce a product.
“Use of product authentication labels
and specialised packaging is the next level
of defence. Increasing awareness of what
a customer should expect in a genuine
product and ensuring that purchases are
only made through authorised channels
helps to minimise risk of counterfeit
product entering the supply chain.
“Xerox has a website dedicated to
brand protection:
supplies/brand-protection/engb.html.”
Mark Ash:
“It’s imperative that
manufacturers collaborate with customs
and border authorities, trading standards
organisations and channel partners to
share information concerning original and
counterfeit products as well as intelligence
on suspicious traders.”
What can resellers do to help?
Andrew Hall:
“Resellers should source
only from an authorised channel and report
any suspicious activity/pricing.”
Nigel Allen:
“The general rule that
resellers should stick to is ‘if it’s too good
to be true, then it probably is a counterfeit
product’. We find that our partners are
often aware of the problem but some
don’t realise how widespread it is. Many
of the cases we’re currently investigating
were originally flagged up by our partner
community, and we’d ask all partners to
contact our team directly if they have any
suspicions.”
Kevin Weaver:
“Avoid the temptation
of the special/cheap price and buy only
from OEM authorised distributors. Some
counterfeit practices, such as product
blending – the mixing of counterfeit
products with OEM originals, means
unsuspecting resellers can be fooled into
believing their shipment is safe. If it’s cheap
Kevin Weaver,
Vice President,
Brand Protection,
Xerox
Mark Ash,
Head of Print,
Samsung
continued...
...continued
Counterfeit
products and
‘new built
clones’ are
causing the
entry-level
market to
collapse, with
the result that
manufacturers
are starting
to withdraw
from that end
of the market
