The ongoing semiconductor shortage has claimed many victims from those making smartphones to the automotive industry. We can now add “printer ink and toner” to that list as well.

A blog post published on Canon’s European website has revealed that the company is having problems procuring the electronic components that are used in the ink and toner cartridges it produces.

As such, these products are being shipped without these components.

“While there is no negative impact on print quality when using consumables without electronic components, certain ancillary functions, such as the ability to detect toner levels, may be affected,” writes Canon.

The other problem is that some printers may not be able to verify that a cartridge is officially from Canon. The solution to this problem? Ignore the warning. If you’ve been using official Canon cartridges for a while this may come as a shock but moving forward now you know that the warnings from your Canon printer aren’t that serious.

Canon has provided instructions on how to circumvent the warnings which may pop up while using a cartridge without the electronic components. The advice generally boils down to close the window or click cancel to ignore the warning. You can find a list of affected models and how to carry on printing here.

This does call into question the effectiveness of these measures and highlights the fact that when it comes to small-scale printing, perhaps off-brand cartridges sourced from a reputable dealer aren’t as bad as manufacturers make them out to be.

We’re curious to see whether this problem persists and affects other manufacturers. While the fix for Canon printers is relatively easy, we suspect that the various protections implemented by the likes of HP, fixing things will likely be more complicated.

Hopefully this sparks a new conversation about official printer cartridges and the huge premium manufacturers place on those components. We know that ink quality and high quality printing is a concern but again, for home users – which many of the affected printers are designed for – being able to buy cheaper ink and having alternate buying options are likely more important.

If you are unable to get your Canon printer working because of a cartridge issue, we recommend getting in touch with Canon support. You can find information on how do this locally here.

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]