HP affected by toner shortage

Hewlett-Packard warns distributors:

When parts of Japan were devastated by a earthquake a month ago, there seemed little doubt that the printer and supplies industry would be seriously impacted and there would be shortages of some key products. Now, according to an April 12 article, it seems that the industry’s top vendor, HP, which is dependent on Canon for production of laser printers and MFPs and toner cartridges, has sent a letter to various partners indicating that it is concerned about the future availability of certain toner cartridges and LaserJet devices. According to the CRN story, HP has warned its partners that in response to potential shortages it is restricting distribution of some toner cartridges.

HP has been experiencing shortages of the HP CE285A (or 85A) toner cartridge for months now, and just before the earthquake struck, it was said that another SKU, the CE278A (or 78A), was in short supply.

Canon had problems in ramping up production to meet demand for certain HP toner SKUs before the disaster in Japan, and now the firm faces an even bigger challenge. Some of its manufacturing facilities have been offline for weeks, and transportation systems and other key infrastructure in Japan have been disrupted. Although more manufacturing facilities in Japan are coming back online, all it takes is a disruption somewhere in the supply chain, a shortage of a crucial component in a toner cartridge or laser printer, to impact Canon’s ability to manufacture finished SKUs. HP is expecting to see some shortages and is taking the necessary steps to limit their impact by rationing distribution of some toner cartridges.