Exclusive: The print supplies partners HP doesn't want you trading with
HP has banned partners from trading with a set of firms in EMEA as it clamps down on counterfeit print supplies trading
HP Inc has published a list of rogue partners as part of its crackdown on counterfeit print supplies trading, CRN sister publication Channel Partner Insight has exclusively reported.
The Do Not Trade List for EMEA, dated 15 March and seen by CRN, includes four partners that HP says have engaged in counterfeit and/or illegitimate trading.
Two of the partners are based in Germany - Imcopex and Winterholt & Hering - and one in Burkina Faso, with defunct Beta Distribution the sole UK business listed.
The document states that partners are "not permitted to directly or indirectly trade HP supplies with any company on the Do Not Trade List".
It explains that the rationale is to "keep our channel clear of counterfeiting and improper trade of HP supplies such as grey marketing, VAT fraud and abuse of HP programmes".
Partners that violate the Do Not Trade List may be subjected to "severe consequences" including rebate reclaims, lump-sum payment and partner programme expulsion, HP warned.
In a statement to CRN, HP said: "HP is committed to protecting consumers and partners from counterfeiting and other forms of trade of HP supplies and takes steps to identify such activity.
"Efforts include working in close co-operation with local authorities, offering free delivery inspections to customers, performing regular channel partner protection audits, and attaching security labels that regionalise and serialise HP supplies.
"We now publish the HP Do Not Trade List of companies against which HP has evidence that they are involved in counterfeiting and/or other forms of illegitimate or improper trade of HP supplies. The aim of the Do Not Trade List is to help our partners legitimately source original HP supplies from trusted traders."
CRN contacted both German firms for comment but had only received a reply from Imcopex at the time of publication.
"We are on speaking terms with HP and in one or two weeks we hope that we will be out of the list," said Imcopex managing director Massimo Cadinu.
"I am very positive. When I have something written in my hands I can show it, but the first step is to be speaking with them, which we are."
Supplies clampdown
HP has been on a mission to clamp down on rogue supplies traders since it revealed troubles in its print supplies business in February.
In Q1 the vendor's revenue from supplies fell three per cent globally and nine per cent in EMEA, as online marketplaces and third-party products took their toll.
Howard Hall, managing director at HP Gold Partner DTP, said he was not aware of the Do Not Trade List, adding that illegitimate trading is perhaps not as prevalent in the UK as it is in other EMEA markets.
"There was a big play on consumables and originals in Houston," he said.
"I don't think it is as big an issue in the UK.
"We don't use them; we are HP-only on our managed print so we rely on the intelligence from the chips in the consumables, which is the brain. The compatibles and others don't have those so our model wouldn't work."
Speaking to CRN at Reinvent in Houston, HP's EMEA print general manager David Ryan said that the vendor would be aggressively combating partners that are trading counterfeit print cartridges.
He said that in the long run, cheap imitations can be less cost effective than more expensive HP originals, because of poor quality and the potential to damage machines.
He also claimed that non-HP devices have been known to fail environmental standards tests.
James Kight, CEO of Printerland, said that a recent crackdown by vendors has been good for partners in the industry that only sell original toner.
"It focuses the mind of all the manufacturers because five years ago they could take it for granted that they could pick up the business," he said.
"There aren't many of us left that are original resellers that sell only original toner; we don't do compatibles. We're a dying breed.
"We used to sell a printer and we'd sell three times the value of the printer in toner over three years. It isn't like that anymore; we have to work hard."
The HP document also says that a new section has been entered in the vendor's partner terms, explaining the obligations of partners with regards to the Do Not Trade List.
Alex Tatham, managing director of Westcoast, said he supports the move.
"The initiative is good for business; it's the right thing," he said. "I think it affects the whole of Europe.
"The product starts somewhere and ends up somewhere and if it goes through the UK it has got to be stopped - whether it is counterfeit trading or bid abuse.
"We serial-number track everything out the business and that is critical to the success of HP and other vendors."