Epson announces end of laser printer production

Japanese-based company Epson announced plans to end the production of laser printers by 2026. The company cites sustainability reasons for the decision, claiming that ink printers use less energy and consumable parts.

In 2019, Epson revealed that its inkjet printers consume "up to 85% less energy" than comparable laser printers. Furthermore, inject printers "produce up to 85% less carbon dioxide" than comparable laser printers, according to Epson. According to Epson, inkjet printers have "up to 59 percent fewer replaceable components" when compared to laser printers.

Typically, ink printers' replaceable components are ink and ink boxes. For laser printers, there is the toner, drum, developer and fusers that are replaceable". The tests simulated Office and business use, not Home use according to the report.

Epson reduced its fleet of laser printers in the past couple of years significantly already. In fact, laser printers are not sold by the company in some regions of the world already. The two main markets for Epson laser printers, Asia and Europe, will see the company leave the markets by 2026.

Epson plans to focus fully on inkjet printers going forward. The company has been in the news lately regarding the deliberate bricking of customer printers. Customers discovered that they could not use the Epson ink printer anymore.

The company claims that most customers "will never receive this message" and that it is "directly dependent on factors like the printer model, frequency, usage conditions, and type of printing over time".  Customers affected by the issue have to pay Epson to restore functionality or buy a new device right away. Epson ink printer models L360, L130, L220, L310 and L365 are said to include the bricking functionality.

Epson released a one-time use maintenance reset utility for North American customers, which they may run to restore printing functionality "for a limited time".

Closing Words

Home users may have different requirements when it comes to printing than organizations. While it may be true that ink printers are more sustainable, home users may have to take into account other factors, including the deliberate bricking of devices by Epson.

Home users who print occasionally only may still run into "dry ink" issues or other issues related to ink usage. Also, printers may be turned off when they are not in use. A user who prints ten or so sheets per month may keep the printer turned off most of the time. Some even include functionality that requires that they are turned on before use.

Now You: do you use printers? If so, laser or ink, and which brand? (via The Register)

Epson announces end of laser printer production