Counterfeiting has an annual global impact of $3 billion on the printing and imaging technologies industry, with 10% of world trade made up of counterfeit, pirated or grey-market products.
This is according to a Hewlett-Packard study, which estimates that the yearly global economic and social impact of counterfeiting and piracy is $775 billion - expected to reach $1.7 trillion by 2015.
"These syndicates are getting so advanced that it's getting harder to differentiate between the fake and the real," explains printing category manager at HP SA, Nosipho Simelane. "Counterfeiting used to be the domain of skilled criminals with expensive engraving and printing equipment. Not so today, thanks to advances in computer and printing technologies that have dramatically reduced the cost and difficulty of reproducing realistic-looking fakes."
Across Europe, Middle East and Africa over the past four years, HP says it has conducted nearly 1 000 investigations, resulting in over 800 enforcement actions (raids and seizures by authorities) and nearly nine million units of counterfeit printing supplies products and components seized, thus preventing them from being sold in the EMEA marketplace and beyond.
In Nigeria alone, HP's investigation detected numerous operations which were refilling or remanufacturing print cartridges packed in unauthorised or fake reproductions of the company's packaging, and misled consumers into believing that they were buying genuine products. The company states that 74% of these counterfeited print cartridges had poor or inconsistent print quality, 53% had the yield of the cartridge (number of total printed pages) lower than normal and in 45% of instances the cartridge did not work at all.
"This not only impacts the printing and imaging industry's global trade and revenue, it also damages brands' hard earned reputations and has negative effects on consumer confidence," notes Simelane.
"Along with the considerable risks posed by counterfeit printing supplies to their brands, customers should also be made aware of the hidden costs of dealing with criminal organisations. Buying fake goods means they come with a shorter lifespan and a continuous spending cycle on the customer's part."
She points out further that for enterprises, counterfeit goods could result in downtime due to damage caused by inferior printing supplies, interruptions of entire printing infrastructure and workflow, and complaints and accusations directed towards purchase or IT departments.
Taking a precautionary step, HP's imaging and printing business made the effort to integrate anti-counterfeiting measures into devices to curtail the problem, according to Simelane.
"These include the use of any quick-response code reader on smartphones or mobile devices to scan the code on the product's package seal and instantly receive verification of the authenticity of the product," she states. "We will also be looking at sophisticated packaging and security labels to enable partners and customers to spot suspicious products and make it more difficult for counterfeiters to manufacture fakes."
Simelane concludes that the company's anti-counterfeit programme is also in place to protect HP's partners and customers by making it difficult to produce, distribute and sell counterfeits.
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