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Canon has become an unusual victim of the global semiconductor shortage, as its printer cartridges are not shipping with chips to confirm they contain genuine ink from the company.
The global semiconductor shortage has led to low supplies of chips used in many different industries, prompting delays in shipments and rising costs of scarce devices to consumers. While computing components, mobile devices, and cars are thought to be the main industries affected by a lack of chips, it appears that printer ink suppliers are also having problems.
Camera and printer producer Canon has run into the situation where it has to send printer cartridges out without its usual collection of chips. As spotted by Mario W on Twitter, this means Canon is producing ink cartridges without what he refers to as "copy-protection measures," and is starting to contact customers about a fix.
The chips included in a printer cartridge provide a few functions, including helping to determine how much ink is left to use. It is also generally used to ensure that users use genuine cartridges from the company, to try and prevent the use of uncertified and unofficial third-party inks.
A support page from Canon Europe's website lists numerous imageRunner multi-function printers that use ink cartridges affected by the shortages. Canon warns that there is "no negative impact on print quality when using the consumables without electronic components," but features such as "the ability to detect toner levels" could be affected.
The page goes on to explain how to use one of the company's affected toner cartridges, including instructions to bypass a warning about a potentially malfunctioning cartridge.
It is unclear how long the problem will last for Canon, nor is it known if other printer manufacturers are going through the same supply issues.
The chip shortage is affecting many industries and device vendors, with Apple seemingly feeling the pinch in September while rivals are faring worse. Chip companies like TSMC have been announcing major investment initiatives to ease off the pressure on chip supply chains, but it is unlikely that the situation will be fixed anytime soon.
He who lives by the sword dies by the sword
It’s about time for printer companies to rethink their ink cartridge strategy. Now it bites them back on their butts. EPSON’s ink refillable printer starts to look good.
ravnorodom said: It’s about time for printer companies to rethink their ink cartridge strategy. Now it bites them back on their butts. EPSON’s ink refillable printer starts to look good. This is reason I went to Epson. Canon forced you to use their ink cartridges. Actually worse than Apple’s payment systems so why aren’t they being investigated?
This is reason I went to Epson. Canon forced you to use their ink cartridges. Actually worse than Apple’s payment systems so why aren’t they being investigated?
rob53 said: ravnorodom said: It’s about time for printer companies to rethink their ink cartridge strategy. Now it bites them back on their butts. EPSON’s ink refillable printer starts to look good. This is reason I went to Epson. Canon forced you to use their ink cartridges. Actually worse than Apple’s payment systems so why aren’t they being investigated? Because we need new laws to eliminate monopolies like the ink cartridge mafia as well as the app store mafia.
Because we need new laws to eliminate monopolies like the ink cartridge mafia as well as the app store mafia.
Ink cartridges aren’t as bad as we think. These printers are sold below cost, ink is their profit. Also printing is not as popular as it used to be, fewer and fewer ink is being sold thanks to the internet.
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