HP out with Mobile Authentication of Products

HP has invented a sophisticated security technology meant to help protect customers against counterfeit print cartridges as the problems of counterfeiting continue to grow in leaps and bounds.

Rita Amuchienwa, channel development manager, HP IPG English Africa, at local HP demo day on the mobile authentication platform,said that the company spends about 500 million euros per annum on research and development aimed at finding measures to thwart plots of fakers of her products, like the print cartridges.  

According to her, counterfeit activities supplies, for example, are increasingly undermining legitimate business standards and practices in the country and defrauding Nigerian, who believe they are buying original brand-name quality.

She disclosed that newly released HP-commissioned research from Forrester, showed that Nigeria is, in fact, home to the highest number of African businesses that have either been offered or unintentionally purchased counterfeit cartridges, as cited by 50 percent of business survey respondents. Printer failure was reported as the primary concern when buying printing supplies (64 percent).  

Amuchienwa said “While original manufacturers in various industries are considering how to protect their customers against counterfeit goods, HP has already deployed a number of measures to ensure that its customers receive only authentic HP printing supplies.

“HP is dedicated to ensuring that customers are able to identify counterfeit inkjet and LaserJet cartridges, protecting them from unreliable and compromised print quality, both prior to and after purchase.  “We are happy to share that HP’s Mobile Authentication technology is now widely available for original HP LaserJet cartridges in Nigeria.  She added

Amuchienwa stated that customers can now verify the authenticity of their cartridge using HP Mobile Authentication to check the security labels of both inkjet and LaserJet toner cartridges. At HP´s Authentication Demo Day which took place today, Rita

After verifying cartridge purchases with HP mobile authentication, customers can also validate cartridge authenticity by using the HP software authentication technology for LaserJet cartridges.

The HP-commissioned Forrester research was conducted in April 2012 and included 77 interviews with businesses and customers in the UAE, 76 in Nigeria, 75 in Kenya and 75 in Morocco. Qualitative research was conducted in the Ukraine and Kazakhstan around a series of focus groups.

The Channel Development Manager added that HP is not resting on its oars to educate her business partners on the imperatives of stamping out fakes in the markets.