The Cost of Colour Printing in the Middle East, Africa and Beyond

If you have ever had to purchase new ink or toner for your printer, whether at the office or home, then you know first-hand the price difference between colour and monochrome cartridges. It is a well-known fact that printing in colour costs significantly more than printing in black and white. 

This can be a problem for small and even larger, well-established businesses. When running a company, you want to keep expenses down as much as possible. And since the common perception is that colour printing is an expensive luxury that only large organisations can afford, many businesses steer far away from colour ink and toner cartridges.

A decade ago, this was the case. However, with the advancements in technology, printing devices have evolved, lowering the costs associated with them. Unfortunately, the view that colour printing amounts to a small fortune has stuck, and many companies have resorted to cheaper alternatives to cut down costs on colour printing, resorting to remanufactured and compatible printer cartridges in place of genuine ones.

These cheaper versions of genuine cartridges might sound like a good deal, but they can end up costing you more money in the long run. Here, we explore how the cost of colour printing and buying genuine cartridges are worth every penny spent.

The differences between various printer cartridges

There are a variety of cartridges available for your printing solutions – however, not all of them are the best choice for your printing device. The three main types of cartridges available are genuine, remanufactured and compatible cartridges.

• Genuine: Also known as original equipment manufacturer (OEM), genuine cartridges are made by your printer manufacturer and come with your printer. They are also the most expensive type of cartridges on the market.
• Remanufactured: These cartridges are genuine cartridges that have been cleaned, rebuilt and refilled with ink or toner by a different manufacturer than the original. They are less expensive than proper genuine cartridges.
• Compatible: A compatible cartridge is a brand-new printer cartridge built by a different manufacturer and has never been used before. They are designed to be compatible with your printing device and are the least expensive cartridge on the market.

The risks with using alternative cartridges

You might think the cost of colour printing is expensive when you see the price of genuine cartridges. But can you imagine how much more it will cost you if the cheaper alternatives damage your printing device?

We understand that remanufactured and compatible cartridges cost less, but they also come with great risks. Let’s look at the reasons why genuine cartridges are the better option:

• Page yield 

Companies, especially in the corporate world, tend to print out pages en masse. Naturally, this uses a lot of ink and toner, causing you to go through cartridges quickly. Genuine toners typically have the highest page yields, while compatible and remanufactured toners don’t last as long and print far fewer pages. Furthermore, genuine toners are more durable and can maintain print quality while printing more pages, unlike their counterparts. 

• Print quality

Toner cartridges are a vital part of the printing process and directly influence the print quality of a printer. If you want your printer to deliver its highest potential for text and image quality, you must use the highest quality toner. Genuine toners deliver crisper text, as well as image quality that is brighter and sharper with more accurate colouring. When using compatible or remanufactured toners, the print quality is often lacking and the colours are usually inaccurate. 

• Risk of malfunctioning

The most persuasive of all the reasons as to why you should not purchase compatible toners is that you run the risk of extensive damage to your printer. The problems that can arise are caused by several facts, such as variation in electrostatic qualities, melting points, pigments and particle sizes. As a result, the toner often ends up leaking and damaging the printer – costing you much more money than you’ll be saving.

Remanufactured toners aren’t much better. Oftentimes, waste toner and paper debris can be left in the cartridge from each print job, which leads to backgrounding issues and the cartridge becoming contaminated.

At the end of the day, you are better off spending that extra buck or two on genuine toners, as they are manufactured by the manufacturer they are used for and as a result, do not carry the risk of malfunctioning like compatible and remanufactured toners. 

• Longevity

An important part of print quality is how long the print lasts over time. Prints produced from genuine toners maintain their integrity over time and do not fade. On the other hand, prints produced from compatible and remanufactured toners do not have the same longevity and usually fade at a significantly faster rate.

Quality you can see, performance you can trust

Let’s debunk a myth about the cost of colour printing. It is often assumed that imitation or remanufactured supplies cost less than genuine Toshiba supplies. 

This is far from true.

Yes, third party suppliers can start priced up to 50% less than the real deal, this initial price doesn’t reflect your true hard costs. This is because, firstly, remanufactured cartridges over-promise and under-deliver, resulting in systemic quality/reliability failures that require premature replacements.

Secondly, bench testing reveals that approximately one in five remanufactured cartridges actually damage the fuser to the extent that it needs to be replaced prematurely. When you account for this damage in addition to the above point, genuine Toshiba supplies cost 30% less than remanufactured ones.

And lastly, genuine toner cartridges are high-quality products and come with a higher price tag as a result. However, the improved durability and higher page yields of genuine toners end up being more cost-effective over time. Also, when you factor in the legitimate risk of damage to your printer that comes with using compatible and remanufactured toners and the potential repair costs, the higher initial price of genuine toners is more than worth it.

Multifunction colour printers

Toshiba, a world leader in technology, offers a wide array of e-STUDIO Multifunction Colour Printers, providing customers with a diverse range of print management solutions while enhancing security, user-friendliness, efficiency and more. Visit our website to view and enquire about our full range of products and services for your office workforce solutions today.