HP Printers
Cashing in Stage 3
HP printers are a textbook razor-and-blades trap turned hostile. Firmware updates (“Dynamic Security”) disable printers that use third-party cartridges, and Instant Ink prices keep rising—and its cartridges stop working the moment you cancel. The printer is sold below cost so the ink can be priced like a luxury. Stage 3.
- Since
- 1984
- Function
- Devices & stores
- VC-backed
- No
- Public
- Since 1957 (NYSE: HPQ)
Rating checklist
The stage follows from these criteria under the published method. Extraction and decline count only with a dated source from the last 3 years.
- Alignment 0 of 3
- None
- Lock-in 1 of 4
-
- L3 Hardware or workflow
- Extraction 2 of 7
-
- E1 Pay more for the same Apr 2025
- E6 Self-dealing Mar 19, 2025 Jan 11, 2024
- Decline 0 of 3
- None
Result: Two or more extraction criteria, or lock-in plus at least one, so stage 3.
News signals
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