Your printer is cheap because the ink isn't

A replacement cartridge costs roughly 23 cents to make and retails for around $60 — and the printer it goes into was sold at a loss on purpose. HP's chief executive didn't dispute any of that when he was asked about it at Davos in 2024: "We lose money on the hardware. We make money on the supplies." That was never the secret. The chip was. What's covered: how razor-and-blade pricing moved the profit into the cartridge; Dynamic Security, the firmware lock that HP's own documentation says can block cartridges using a non-HP chip — including cartridges that work today; the HP Plus one-way door and the update you can't undo; Instant Ink's page-count billing and the bailment fine print that means the ink was never sold to you; Lexmark v. Impression Products and why the first-sale ruling covers refills but not subscription cartridges; Consumer Reports' $13-to-$95-an-ounce ink tests and Rich Sulin on the inkjet that spends as much ink on maintenance as on printing; and why the 2019 settlement, the 2022 Euroconsumers deal, Italy's €10 million fine, the March 2025 American settlement that paid the class nothing, and an EPEAT standard that no printer has registered under have changed so little. Chapters: 0:00 Cheaper Than the Ink 1:16 The Lock Has a Name 2:19 HP Plus: The One-Way Door 3:39 The Engineered Loophole 4:58 Half the Ink Never Prints 6:17 The Class Got Nothing 7:02 A Rule With No Printers 8:33 Why the Printer Was Cheap