Epson announces end of laser printer production

Martin Brinkmann
Nov 29, 2022
Hardware
|
21

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 drops laser printers

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)

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Epson announces end of laser printer production
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Epson announces end of laser printer production
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Japanese-based company Epson announced plans to end the production of laser printers by 2026, citing sustainability reasons.
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Comments

  1. notanon said on November 30, 2022 at 11:13 pm
    Reply

    Sound like a massive amount of copium from Epson.

    Epson has never been a major player in the laser printer market, so I’m not surprised they stopped trying.

    Inkjet in another story, their pigment based ink was probably resulted in the best archive prints in the inkjet printer market.

    However, bricking printers in software is despicable (like Apple throttling their older phones). I don’t know why anyone would buy hardware from any company that bricks their own hardware.

    The inkpad in an inkjet printer is literally a sponge at the bottom of the printer. You can just remove the sponge, clean it out with water, let it dry under the sun outside, then reinstall the inkjet pad back in the printer. There are 5 minute (or less) Youtube videos that show you how to do it (step by step).

    The only problem with cleaning/replacing the inkjet pad is the software/firmware need to be reset, which can sometimes only be done by the manufacturer officially (or 3rd party websites [shady hackers???]) for a fee ($$$ for the inkjet manufacturers).

    Laserprinters are the most cost effective option for most printing application. Inkjet printer are only superior in printing photographs.

  2. Hectamenu said on November 30, 2022 at 2:22 pm
    Reply

    So laserjer epson printer rising the price and their toners

  3. beemeup5 said on November 30, 2022 at 5:25 am
    Reply

    I have an old HP Laserjet 1100 that I still use to this day. I got a cheap parallel-to-USB cable so I can use it with basically any modern PC. It prints at 32 ppm which matches most laser printers even today and the quality is still perfect. Good luck finding an inkjet printer that’ll last you 30+ years like my laserjet because as far as I can tell they basically don’t exist, which destroys any “greenwashed” it’s-for-the-environment nonsense corporate loves pushing. Oh it’s definitely good the environment… the environment inside their tax-sheltered bank accounts that is!

  4. asd said on November 30, 2022 at 12:12 am
    Reply

    “Better For The Environment And For Business” environment?! LOL be honest, it’s just for more profit.

  5. Clairvaux said on November 29, 2022 at 11:14 pm
    Reply

    That’s a good example of companies using the “climate” and “planet” fakery to deliver expensive and useless products.

    I don’t want “sustainable” products. I want to fuck the “planet” through and through.

    Try and convince me that your products are useful, cheap and they last for ever (not the planet ; stop changing the conversation).

  6. Trey said on November 29, 2022 at 8:41 pm
    Reply

    Epson: Brother is kicking our azz and there’s no way to compete. Buy our abusively-priced ink instead!

    If they really want to compete, sell ink in a way that is competitive instead of the joke that they offer now.

  7. kalmly said on November 29, 2022 at 5:03 pm
    Reply

    Only ever had one ink jet printer. It was a pain. The ink costs a small fortune because the cartridges last no time before they dry out. I finally gave up on the thing. For me, it’s Brother laser printers all the way. Tough, dependable, little work horses. I had one that was 20 years old and still chugging along. It took my house burning to the ground to destroy it.

    I use my printers every day, and there are times when I print two-sided, 400+ page manuscripts. Never have a problem. It would be hugely expensive to do that with an ink-jet.

    1. Alex said on November 29, 2022 at 7:05 pm
      Reply

      Same.
      I rarely print anything but when I had ink jet printers (HP, Epson, Canon) it always clogged up. To “clean” the nozzles you had to waste an obscene amount of ink.
      Tried one of those systems with small tanks of ink on the side where you can refill them… It was always a mess and nozzles got clogged even worse with 3rd party ink.
      Since then I got a cheap Brother monochrome printer and couldn’t be happier.
      I do miss color prints but that is a small price to pay for the convenience of having a working printer at any time.

  8. chumley said on November 29, 2022 at 5:01 pm
    Reply

    HP also has terrible practices regarding the consumables for their printers. They region code their ink cartridges, and region lock their printers. If you have an older printer, be very careful. Some of them shipped without this region locking nonsense, but it was added later via firmware. The first time you install a region coded cartridge, it will lock the printer to that region, then cartridges from all other regions will be rejected. I had a HP printer that was rendered unusable for months because of this. Almost had to throw it out and buy a new one. They also intentionally make it nearly impossible to contact support if you are out of warranty. I won’t be buying any more HP printers.

  9. Jef Leemabns said on November 29, 2022 at 3:55 pm
    Reply

    I threw away an Epson photo printer some 10 years ago, because the ink was dried out when I wanted to use it. Before that, I had an OKI laser, no problems. Now I have been using a Samsung ML-2955DW laser for over ten years at about 5000 A4 pages/year with no problem at all. Extraordinary quality prints, fast speed and cheap (non-Samsung) toner cassettes. I will never turn back to inkjet

  10. DitchEpson said on November 29, 2022 at 2:14 pm
    Reply

    Transparent corpo lies. Hardly anyone repairs printers to the point of making part availability a major issue, theyre more liable to buy a new one – from a rival brand like Brother.

    The real reason theyre obsoleting laserjets would be inkjet is a lot more profitable over a printer’s lifetime. DRM the cartridges, block ‘unlicenced’ refills, charge home and SMBs through the nose for the official ones since big users already use more advanced and expensive thermal printers anyway.

    Asian makers should smell the blood and add printers to their tech domination commercial circuits.

  11. Paul(us) said on November 29, 2022 at 1:19 pm
    Reply

    I strongly doubt Epson’s statement. In the 1970s, Epson (Think TX-80 as the printer for the Commodore PET) was the printer you wanted to buy but with the rise of Canon and Hewlett Packard, that has changed a lot.

    As a result, I rather think it can no longer compete with, say, Hewlett Packard.

    Besides, according to my own experience, the Inkjet printer not only uses more ink but regularly has problems with clumps in the cartridge causing clogs.

    If you add up the price of inkjet cartridges, don’t count the special paper and the annoyance, I think an Inkjet is more expensive.

  12. ECJ said on November 29, 2022 at 11:22 am
    Reply

    More like laser printers are less profitable for Epson.

    You know what’s better for the environment, people still using an old Brother laser printer that shows no signs of needing replacing. And also not needing to keep buying new ink cartridges due to them not being used very often and thus keep malfunctioning.

    People using one printer and one laser toner without needing to keep buying new ones seems like the real reason Epson are against them. Truth is, lots of us just very rarely print anything now-a-days and lasers are much more reliable for that type of use.

  13. allen said on November 29, 2022 at 11:11 am
    Reply

    Let’s say usage is 5 pages or less per month for 10 or 20 years.
    Laser printer–one cartridge might last you for all of those 2 decades, if not then two will; printer is off most of the time since you can turn it on when you need it and it will only take seconds for ready, print, and done, and you can turn it off again.
    Inkjet–expect to get more cartridges every year or two; it can take *minutes* to turn the printer on, wait for it to warm-up, then print and finish so you turn it off again.
    Ultimately, the inkjet costs more in money and time than the laser. I have laser printers that all still work as well now as when I got them more than a decade ago (more than two for the HP). None of the inkjets have lasted so long. Or, hey, let’s go back to using dot matrix printers; they were fun back in the ’80s!

  14. John G. said on November 29, 2022 at 10:45 am
    Reply

    Actually HP is the king of all the printers worldwide.

    1. PrinterLogic said on November 30, 2022 at 1:13 am
      Reply

      HP also makes the absolute worst printers. These printer manufacturers only care that we keep spending money on ink each month. They want laser printers eliminated because of this. Not due to a reduction in carbon dioxide usage and fewer replaceable components. What a bunch of nonsense. When compared to inkjet printers, laser printers are more reliable and don’t need to be fixed frequently. My current Brother laser printer has operated flawlessly for years, and unlike ink, toner doesn’t deteriorate over time. In the past five years, I’ve only needed to replace the toner once and the drum is still at 88%.

      1. John G. said on November 30, 2022 at 12:54 pm
        Reply

        I was talking about prices. A multifunction HP printer barely reach 40€ in some offers.

  15. Mystique said on November 29, 2022 at 9:22 am
    Reply

    This is all well and good but when you are deploying planned obsolescence in the design and assembly of your printers then you won’t be happy your laser printer isn’t around. Laser printers are usually far more reliable and efficient where as inkjet usually need cartridges which are also wasteful but lets assume it’s their new eco lines that you fill up with the ink, epson are one step ahead and will as they have and use software to report false readings such as empty ink cartridges, or canisters, or parts the suddenly break down and need replacement. It’s so bad that people would rather throw out the entire printer and buy a new one than replace parts or buy more ink. You basically have to buy service kits. Whenever topics like this get brought up you will see a slew of people complaining about printer manufacturers and the underhanded stuff they pull but if you don’t it’s simply because people have given up on printers and moved on.

    There is software out there that attempts to patch these kinds of things but the majority of people feel that printer manufacturers are pretty much one if not the worst kind of scum in the tech world.

    I’m surprised that the consumer watchdogs haven’t come down on these thief’s like a ton of bricks but I am even more surprised that the stooges that constantly complain about wasted earth resources, climate change activists and such have not attacked manufacturers such as this for using planned obsolescence. It’s little wonder I cannot respect a great deal of them.

    1. Laser printer and scanner said on November 29, 2022 at 3:23 pm
      Reply

      @Mystique,
      Yeah, I wonder how Greta T. feels about Microsoft forcing perfectly compatible PC hardware into landfills with their asinine processor requirements for Windows 11.

      Me and mine went to Brother laser printers a decade ago and have never looked back except to say that inkjet printers are garbage and high maintenance if only used occasionally. Ink is always dried out between uses and you need to use half of a new cartridge (or set of) to clean the clogged heads.
      Laser Toner, if using after market brands, are a small fraction of the price of ink-jet ink.
      My Brother color laser uses about 800 watts for about 10-15 seconds when starting up then it drops down to very low wattage thereafter (don’t remember exactly how much).
      In deep sleep mode it uses less than 1/2 or .5 of a watt.
      No contest.

  16. Anonymous said on November 29, 2022 at 8:46 am
    Reply

    I rarely print and my printer is always off.
    My laser printer has lased 10 years.

    Old ink jets always dried out or broke causing more waste. After buying two I switched to laser.

    I wasted more energy/fuel going to print shops and buying new printers because of inkjets.

  17. reverie72 said on November 29, 2022 at 8:26 am
    Reply

    in my country especially at any office use inkjet printer than laser printer. inkjet become favorite because very easy to refill

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