printers ink why is it so expensive

debate 2
I have been told printers ink is so expensive because the manufactures have to pay out 1 billion pound a year,to update it,and the cartridges aree very expensive
first why do they have to pay 1 billion every year
whenyou find the right chemicle either from rock or plant life,you know where to get it,,and they put a amount of powder into a very large vat ,with water,ans stimulate,making gallons of the ink,why do they have to pay 1 billion every year
the cartidges are plastic ,found in oil,and land very cheap to buy ,which is poured into a mould turning out thousands of them every day,
so they cant make printers ink for less the 1 billion a year ,i really cant beleive this can you

It appears that Con has taken the position that Printer Ink is expensive, and shouldn't be.

As pro my position will be that Con has started from an unsupported false premise, and that Printer Ink is actually very cheap. Con gives no source for the claim that it costs a Billion Pounds(I assume British Pounds) a year to manufacture printer ink, only hearsay.

If I were to just buy the Ink what would the cost be for, lets say, the HP920 XL? It would come to about 16 US Dollars on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com...

However, that's just the ink. What is expensive is buying an official cartridge which comes to about 40 USD just for the black cartridge. http://www.amazon.com...

So why is there this huge disparity between the actual cost of the ink and the official ink cartridge? It actually has nothing to do with the manufacturing cost of the Ink or of the cartridge. The reason comes down to the cost of manufacturing the Printer, and not the ink. The entire printer industry that most people are associated with is the consumer market, and in that market the Printer is Sold at a loss. Profit is only made after a customer buys a few ink cartridges. This is called the Razor and Blade model. This information comes from my personal experience from working with HP, but I can't expect you to take my personal word for it. So here is a lovely article from a few years back documenting the industry wide dependence on the Razor and Blade model, and why it has been a pain for the industry to switch.
http://www.cbsnews.com...

In order for HP and others to sell cheaper ink they would have to increase the cost of the printers. However, because cheap printers from the Razor and Blade model already permeate the market sales would be extremely low to nonexistent. People would buy used printers and ink kits long before buying the printer that's twice the price they were before with all the same features. Unfortunately, to keep the Razor and Blade model they are stuck with having to change the cartridges so they are harder to refill and are more likely to break if you do. If too many people bought printer refill kits instead of cartridges the printer industry would collapse as it currently is.

It is an unfortunate position regardless of which side you take, but it is not caused by the cost of manufacturing the ink as my opponent suggests. Change might come, but they've been trying since 2009, and they still haven't been able to fully change their business models, and avoid financial collapse.

Thank you.

I believe I have made my point, but I await my opponents rebuttal.

I will leave the rest up to any interested voters.