Dubai, UAE, 3rd June 2010 - HP Middle East today held the 'Dubai Science of Supplies Tour' and announced an increased focus on combating counterfeit printing supplies in the Middle East.
Counterfeiting in printing supplies is estimated to be a multi-billion dollar trade worldwide, with organised crime syndicates often behind the illegal manufacture, distribution and sale of printer cartridges. It is a major concern for HP and other technology firms in the region, with a potentially heavy impact on revenues.
The keynote session was presented by HP Middle East IPG General Manager, Mr Amin Mortazavi. Entitled 'Countering the counterfeiters', the presentation gave background to the scale of the counterfeit problem in the region. Also detailed were HP's efforts to increase customer vigilance and promote awareness of the dangers posed by purchasing a counterfeit product.
Mr Mortazavi said that in the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions alone, a total of 2,529,984 counterfeit printing supplies were seized from November 1st 2008 through January 31st, 2010.
Counterfeit printing supplies do not give the same high-quality printing normally expected with a genuine HP product, and it is well known that counterfeit products can cause serious damage to the printer, often invalidating the warranty as well.
"We have started a campaign here in the UAE - with the Dubai Internet City to begin with - to create consumer awareness. HP also intends to spread this campaign to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the countries in the region." Mr Mortazavi says.
HP and DIC will promote awareness on the issues that can be faced by using counterfeit printing supplies, as well as educate users and sellers on how to identify and report counterfeit HP supplies.
DIC's endorsement of HP's campaign will also help to drive further impact and highlight the importance of the message throughout the region. These will form part of a joint effort by HP and DIC to increase awareness and to educate customers to buy only original supplies from authorized partners. HP hopes that the move will also act as a call to action for the companies within DIC's community, of which HP is a key member.
Counterfeit supplies can damage printers, decrease printers' performance and affect reliability. Print quality produced by these fake goods will not be up to the standards expected from genuine HP products. Companies tend to buy counterfeit printing products - like fake cartridges - to save costs, which add to the $200 billion annual global trade in counterfeit products. Furthermore, most of these cartridges do not work properly thus wasting money; they harm the environment due to the wasted inferior quality print-outs and do not stand to gain from the HP Planet Partners return and recycling programme, which enables simple, convenient recycling of Original HP inkjet and LaserJet supplies.
In addition to DIC, the government of Dubai has also consistently worked to protect intellectual property rights for businesses in the region and to combat the rise of counterfeit goods. In 2008, Dubai hosted the Fourth Global Congress to Combat Counterfeiting and Piracy. In March, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in association with the Brand Owners Protection Group, held a workshop on Consumer Protection against Counterfeits.
DIC and HP look forward to a continuous and long-term partnership across different corporate social responsibility initiatives.
"I believe that as awareness increases, the counterfeit business will go down - we are on the right track" Mr Mortazavi says.
-Ends-
About Dubai Internet City
Dubai Internet City was established in 2000 and is the largest managed Information and Communication Technology cluster in the region comprised of over 1,300 IT companies from various segments. Its core focus area extends from the Middle East to the Indian Subcontinent and from Africa to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Its support of HP's campaign is a reiteration of the importance DIC places on customer education programs for the benefit of the industry as a whole as well as within its own community.
About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses and society. The world's largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com
Editorial Contacts:
Kate Rowlinson, Promax PR
+971 55 2835312
Kate.rowlinson@promaxpr.com
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