Canon is set to sell chip-free printer cartridges to help its customers continue using its products due to the global semiconductor shortage.
For those not in the know, chips have been placed in toner cartridges to communicate information, including toner level, and to confirm that the toner is a genuine Canon product.
However, faced with a choice with providing this information and customers not having toner at all, Canon has produced chip-less toner cartridges to help its customers print as normal, although there will be some minor changes to the printing process. This will affect over 50 of its models in the imageRUNNER and imageRUNNER ADVANCE range.
It said it has chosen to supply the cartridges without the semiconductor component until normal supply resumes, and that certain ancillary functions, like the ability to detect toner levels, may be affected. Canon has also released instructions on workarounds to bypass DRM warnings like the replace toner message and how to install the new chip-less cartridges.
Canon has been in hot water since October when it was sued for not allowing owners of certain printers to use the scanner or faxing functions if they run out of ink. The plaintiff in the suit found that when using his “all-in-one” Pixma MG6320, the machine would refuse to scan or fax documents if the printer ran out of ink.
