Users of HP products in Ghana are at a higher risk of using fake products, especially printer cartridges as a result of growing counterfeiting.
Most HP print cartridges on the market in Ghana these days are of inferior quality and do not provide satisfaction to users. And Hewlett Packard (HP) is not sitting on the fence and watching. The company is acting to redeem its business and save customers.
HP, which is one of the global leaders in technology, especially ICT consumables is therefore intensifying the fight against counterfeits of its products in Ghana, Nigeria and other countries.
According to the This Day, HP has announced plans this year to step up the battle against counterfeits in West Africa, including Ghana and Nigeria in response to the increasing incidents of fake printing supplies.
HP identifies the counterfeiting of its printing supplies for the LaserJet, Color Laser Jet and Inkjet printers as a global problem, but considers Africa as an area with rampant counterfeiting activities.
“Counterfeiters and fraudulent traders frequently deceive customers into thinking they are buying genuine goods, with print cartridges either packed in copies of original HP boxes or in reused original HP boxes. Buyers of counterfeit print cartridges run several risks, ranging from substandard print quality to printer downtime due to damage by inferior counterfeit supplies,” HP Anti-Counterfeit (ACF) Programme Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Tina Rose was quoted as saying.
In a report released in September 2009 which was sited by ghanabusinessnews.com, HP indicated that in June 2009, customs officials in Durban intercepted a suspicious looking box being shipped to Ghana from China. The shipment contained 2000 fake flat boxes and 2000 counterfeit security labels for HP laser print cartridges. HP alerted the Ghanaian customs officials and the counterfeit consignment was seized at the Tema Harbour.
According to HP, its cooperation with local authorities in EMEA led to the seizure of nearly 2 million counterfeits and components intended for illegal reuse, more than twice the number of items confiscated during the previous year.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
how can a detect a fake HP product?