When ink toner authentication chips run out, it forces manufacturers – here Canon – to slack off their usual policies on official consumables.
It is a commercial technique as old as the world. Sell razor blades more expensive than the razors themselves. The same is true in the print market. Consumables (ink cartridges, toners, etc.) quickly cost more than the price paid for the printer. Printing ink is one of the most expensive liquids in the world. We understand why printer manufacturers, from Epson to Canon via Lexmark or HP, have invented chips to ensure that the cartridges used on their machines are genuine models, sold by them.
The official rhetoric is that these cartridges improve print quality and printer performance, and allow real-time ink level monitoring. In short, that the consumer enjoys the best possible experience. And this, while excluding the many suppliers of alternative consumables.
Problem: When the global semiconductor shortage causes supply shortages, and official cartridges can no longer have authentication chips attached to them, the system collapses. This is what drives Canon today to explain to its German consumers how to bypass the system for preventing the use of third-party cartridges and toners.
Protection that is extremely easy to circumvent
“Due to the continuing global shortage of semiconductor components, Canon is currently facing difficulties in sourcing certain electronic components used in our consumables for our multifunction printers. (…) In order to ensure a continuous and reliable supply of consumables, we have decided to provide consumables without chips until normal supply resumes ”, indicates the brand. For the time being, only professional printers from the imageRUNNER range and their toners are concerned.
To bypass the protection, nothing could be simpler: it suffices to ignore the warning displayed by the pilot, unable to provide any indication as to the filling level of the toners without the famous chip. “Although there is no negative effect on print quality when consumables are used without electronic components, some additional functions, such as detecting the toner level, may be impaired”, specifies the manufacturer. It remains to be seen whether the chip shortage will force other manufacturers to do the same as well, and whether, over time, other Canon printer models will be affected, including those intended for the general public.
To find out which printers are the most interesting in terms of ink cost, you can consult the tests published on our site, which calculate this cost per page and take it into account when evaluating the different models.