Report: HP sells printers in Iran with third party

www.physorg.com ^ | 12/29/2008 | Staff

[Red Badger]

Hewlett-Packard Co. could be breaking U.S. trade sanctions by using a third-party distributor to sell printers in Iran, The Boston Globe reported Monday.

According to the newspaper, HP signed a distribution deal with a Dubai-based company called Redington Gulf in 1997, two years after the Clinton administration put sanctions on Iran.

And while Redington, as a foreign company, falls outside U.S. regulations, the Globe reported that there is evidence HP knew its equipment would end up circumventing U.S. law. For example, in 1999, HP's Middle East manager at the time, Albrecht Ferling, was quoted as estimating that sales in Iran would grow 50 percent a year, the Globe reported.

David Shane, a spokesman for the company, would not say whether HP plans to stop sales of its printers in Iran. He said Monday that "HP has a policy of complete compliance with all U.S. export laws."

Sales of printers and ink are critical for HP, contributing about half of the Palo Alto-based company's operating profit.

According to the Globe, Redington has helped make HP's printers extremely popular in Iran. The newspaper cited a 2007 poll conducted by a local news organization that estimated HP printers had captured 41 percent of the market there.

[Red Badger]

Good. Maybe the Iranians will go broke buying printer cartridges................

[Michael Barnes]

hahaha...classic

[Ancient Drive]

rofl...

[Paleo Conservative]

Good. Maybe the Iranians will go broke buying printer cartridges................

Make them go back to using cuneiform output devices.

[TXnMA]

If they perform like most of the HP printers (or, worse, their driver software) I’ve owned, this may be a ploy to keep Iran out of the information age — or to drive them mad trying to get help from inflexible and snobbish Indians...

[tje]

I’m sure Mark - anything for a buck - Hurd is pleased..

[21stCenturion]

HP has ALWAYS been a major supporter of ALL the long-tenured politicos in Kalifornya — Boxer, Feinstein, Pelosi, et al.

They also put big bucks on the minority party incumbents as well — good cover ain’t cheap but IS necessary.

I don’t see the Abomination Administration OR the Congress going after HP for this at any time in the foreseeable future. They’re very well protected by all them thugs ...

[servantboy777]

>>drive them mad trying to get help from inflexible and snobbish Indians”

Tank yu...come agayn
You hab yurdsef a muhty fean dayb mahm.

[Tenniel2]

Exactly.

Here's a little fact of corporate life for anyone who still thinks boardrooms vote their consciences: Every Fortune 500 company in the U.S. contributes to both political parties. It's called insurance, or covering your bets, and it'll never, ever stop.

[Dr. Sivana]

If they perform like most of the HP printers (or, worse, their driver software) I’ve owned, this may be a ploy to keep Iran out of the information age — or to drive them mad trying to get help from inflexible and snobbish Indians..

Which models did you purchase? Their consumer lines have some issues, but their big dogs are champs. I STILL see HP Laserjet 4s in operation at banks, and our LaserJet 8150dn chugs out hundreds of thousands of sheets every year for six years running, with only maintenance and an entry pad replacement. For ink jets, they had some dogs, but we have an eight year old deskjet 932c that still chugs along. In my experience, the worst and most expensive (for consumables) is Brother, followed by Lexmark. Canon and Epson are better on consumables, but have a slow first page out. We have a Minolta mono laser that works fine but needs expensive boutique cartridges. We have a large Canon color laser, and Canon cannot be bothered to make a printer driver for Windows XP 64-bit for a $15,000 printer. Sheesh! HP ain't perfect, but for business, I know of none better. Even mroe so now that that Fiorina is gone.

[wally_bert]

Old HP 4's & 5's are tough old birds.

As far as ink jets go, I have always done well with Epsons. The current one (RX 595) turns out a very nice photo print. I don't print many but one every now and then.