It costs nearly the subsidized price just to make one.
Apple's iPhone 3GS Costs $179 to Build : Read more
Apple's iPhone 3GS Costs $179 to Build : Read more
Now, on to why printer ink is so expensive. We wish there was some complicated reason like it costs a lot of money to produce or something like that, but the truth is that printer ink is so expensive because manufacturers can make it that expensive. HP is obviously a huge company that has a ton of products and services, but more than 50% of their operating profit comes from printer ink and toner. So for them, the high cost of printer ink subsidizes their business. Now there is some research and development that goes into it, but the truth is that “ink is ink” and it’s not rocket science. Printer manufacturers run a monopoly where they sell a printer at a loss and then make it up with their ink. They have been able to get away with it because for one, people never really considered how little they were getting for their money. Before home photo printing took off, most people bought a few printer cartridges a year and didn’t think much about it other than the shock they might have experienced when they were actually paying for the cartridge. Secondly, there didn’t use to be any alternatives. If you had an HP printer and you wanted to print, you had to buy HP printer ink. So therefore, the printer manufacturers knew they could charge whatever they wanted. Once they sold you the printer, there was no competition.