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Counterfeit Merchandise value at $750 Billion

47 Million Units of Counterfeits products, confiscated in 88 countries.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, 20 December, 2010 - Survey and Research commissioned by HP shows that nearly half of managers with purchasing responsibility for their offices have bought counterfeit products.

The Research indicates that combating the presence of counterfeits in the workplace isn't a priority. More than half of the companies surveyed don't have an active policy in place against the acquisition of counterfeit goods, a number that's as high as 72% in the case of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

However, nearly all respondents across the surveyed markets which in include Europe, Middle East and agree that the production and sale of counterfeit products is bad for society (86%) and their use contributes significantly to unemployment and diminished tax revenues (78%).

"What's particularly disconcerting about the research findings is that some businesses seem to patronise and sustain the production of counterfeit goods, which even they recognise as having harmful consequences for society," said Amin Mortazavi, General Manager Imaging & Printing Group, HP Middle East. "It's encouraging to note, though, that those who avoid counterfeit products do so knowing that the quality of fakes is often deficient and the best experience comes from original products. We will therefore continue to inform clients throughout the region about the negative consequences that counterfeits can entail."

Focusing on the UAE, 60% of business owners say they don't have the opportunity to purchase counterfeit goods, as counterfeit products are becoming more and more difficult to acquire. In addition, 70% of UAE business owners also reported that they have never purchased counterfeit goods for use in their offices, with a further 10% saying that they had inadvertently purchased counterfeit products under the impression they were genuine brand name original.

In fact, among those who acknowledge buying counterfeits for work, three quarters say they have purchased fake office supplies including toner and ink for printers, followed by electronics (39%) and cleaning products (32%).

For those who have never purchased counterfeits for the office, they cite inferior quality as the principal reason (44%), followed by health and safety concerns (29%) and the potential environmental impact of merchandise produced without quality control (28%).

From a country/regional perspective, key findings from HP 's counterfeit purchasing research among businesses include:

• Only companies in the UAE (32%) and Saudi Arabia (35%) say stronger law enforcement or penalties is more important,
• In general, if companies were to look actively for counterfeit goods, they would expect to pay a 20% price discount to the brand name original (48% average response). Nearly a fifth of UAE businesses, however, say a 5% price discount to the brand name original would be sufficient.

Globally, over the last four years, HP has conducted 4,723 investigations in 88 countries resulting in 3,733 enforcement actions (raids and seizures by authorities) confiscating over 47.23 million units of counterfeit products and components. Investigations and actions have occurred on every continent except Antarctica.

According to the Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP), the estimated market for counterfeit merchandise is $750 billion globally. The Imaging Consumables Coalition of Europe, Middle East and Africa (ICCE) indicates that there's an eight percent counterfeit rate in the nearly €30 billion market for printing consumables in Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA).

-Ends-

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© Press Release 2010