Industry Clicks on Biggest News Stories for July 2020

Industry Clicks on Biggest News Stories for July 2020

RT Media published 112 news stories during July 2020 and the top 10 most clicked on by the global industry have been identified. You can also watch the news broadcast that highlights the top 10 stories.

In brief:

The top 10 imaging news stories the industry clicked on most in June, 2020, ranked from no 10 through to the No.#1 story:

Fake news is being shared by an industry news site in America. The publisher ran a story with many errors and lies about China. One of the lies is that the Chinese embassy in Houston was closed by the US government because Ninestar’s Apex and Dinglong’s Chipjet stole intellectual property from HP in Houston.
Three winners were announced by Business Inform in Moscow this month for having the best quality toners. The toners from IMEX in Spain, Delacamp in Germany and HYB in China were all manufactured by their respective partners in Japan.
Another story from Russia reveals Clover has joined its fiercest competitors there. Clover has signed up with Office Assistant which is also an agent for Static Control, G&G, and CET. Office Assistant founding CEO Roman said, “We plan to use three main marketing tools for each brand: price positioning, assortment filling and differentiation by sales channels. For example, we present the Static Control cartridges on the market as a premium product for the end-user, and the increased volume cartridges from MSE as a solution for companies providing the service of copy printing.”
Ninestar’s G&G supplies brand has started a recycling program in Europe and the USA. Consumers in the world’s two biggest markets for printing supplies will be encouraged to return their used ink cartridges to G&G Recycle Centers using a free postage envelope.
Cartridge World has launched a new online business model to master franchisees in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. It is a store-less sales model which will appeal to many people wanting to purchase office supplies online. Cartridge World will target franchisees who may have lost their jobs during COV-19 from the imaging supplies industry. Global CEO Edwin Lui (pictured) said, “So as a franchisor our job is to join with innovation to ensure the sustainability of the brand and the franchise system as a whole. The business model now is the EOM business model – the Executive Office model – is certainly with merit and makes excellent commercial sense that we believe is going to help Cartridge World expand our footprint and build a win-win businesspeople system for franchisees, masters, suppliers and corporate.”
A number of Chinese suppliers have delivered first to market solutions during the month.
- Print-Rite delivered a new chip and a drum unit for use in Kyocera devices claiming each to be 100% compliant and IP safe.
- HYB released several new toner products for use in Lexmark, Xerox and Ricoh devices.
- Mito released eco-friendly remanufactured color toner cartridges for use in both HP as well as Kyocera printers.
Administrative Law Judge Clark Cheney has supported Brother’s 337 complaint at the US International Trade Commission. In a short, single-paged determination, Cheney also agreed that cease and desist orders be issued against Aster Graphics which was the only respondent named.
A number of Indian businessmen have reacted angrily to the proposed duty that will be added to toners imported from China. They say the government has made the decision too quickly during the pandemic crisis. They also say that tens of thousands of small toner refillers will be forced out as they will not be able to compete with other products that will not be taxed.
The last bucket of concrete was poured on July 10 marking the completion of the first stage of Ninestar’s new printer manufacturing base at Gaolan Port in Zhuhai China. Construction on the first phase of the 1.4 billion US dollar high-tech and intelligent manufacturing of laser printers commenced in April 2019.

And the story that captured your attention the most in July 2020:

HPs yet again despicable firmware update for some of its printers. On July 13, HP once again pushed out a new firmware update causing its customers’ printers to stop working if an aftermarket cartridge was installed.
- This year, HP has pushed new firmware updates to different printer products in March, May, June and now in July.
- Update methods include embedded chips in original consumables, newly upgraded consumables, being pushed wirelessly using the printer’s WiFi connectivity and releases on HP’s official website.
- Trade associations are now gearing up for a fight. In Europe, ETIRA has urged HP to retract the updates and in North America, the International Imaging Technology Council is pursuing class-action options.
- HP has said it does have a right to issue firmware updates and has no obligation to make its printers compatible with aftermarket or third-party cartridges.
- Microchip companies including Apex, Chipjet and Zhono have all moved quickly to provide solutions to help minimise the impact for distributors and end-users.