by Christina Bonadio, Executive Editor, Actionable Intelligence
It is that time of year where editors like to make top 10 lists, looking back at the year coming to an end. It is a tradition I try to honor annually, although admittedly I did not create a top 10 list for 2014 due to holiday-week knee surgery (ouch). But this year, no scalpel and no excuses!
So here’s a look at Actionable Intelligence’s most popular stories of 2015 in terms of view counts, ranked from number 10 to number 1.
Most popular stories of 2015:
10. Canon Works Out Settlement to Resolve Inkjet Print-Head Class Action: Our tenth most popular story of 2015 broke the news that Canon had agreed to settle a class action that claimed the OEM sold PIXMA inkjets with faulty print heads. We think this story was popular for a couple of reasons. First, customer frustration with and online complaints about this print-head error were widespread. Second, our class action coverage is incredibly popular in general, a topic I may explore in a future post.
9. HP Ends Patent-Infringement Complaint against Ninestar and Apex: The news that HP had filed suit against Ninestar and Apex Microelectronics was one of our most popular stories of 2014, so it makes sense that news of the lawsuit’s end attracted readers in 2015. While HP voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against Apex and Ninestar, it did so after getting the defendants to agree to pull the infringing products from the market, including compatible ink tanks and compatible chips for the HP 564, 920, 950, and 970 series.
8. HP Reinvents Its Consumables with JetIntelligence Color LaserJet Launch: HP’s launch of its JetIntelligence technology, billed as a complete reinvention of its toner chemistry, cartridge design, and certain related technologies, was big news in 2015, so much so that three of our most popular posts of the year focused on the technology. This piece focuses on the technology at the heart of the new consumable.
7. Clover, Amazon, and Others Issued Seizure-and-Forfeiture Orders: One big difference between 2015 and previous years is that there was a huge uptick in the number of seizure-and-forfeiture orders issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) after U.S. Customs stopped products that violate various exclusion orders from entering the U.S. This particular story was popular, we suspect, because this story focused on some well-known firms that were on the receiving end of such orders, although many smaller firms (including Actionable Intelligence) also were issued seizure-and-forfeiture orders in 2015.
6. ITC Issues More Seizure and Forfeiture Orders against Firms, Including Amazon and LMI Solutions, That Violate GEOs: Yet another example of seizure-and-forfeiture orders being a hot topic in 2015. I have got to say that while the who, what, where, and when news is important, I am surprised that none of our articles exploring the why behind the increase in seizure orders made the top 10 list. If you missed this series, see “Supplies Seizure Series: HP Talks about the Increase in CBP Activity,” “Supplies Seizure Series: Lexmark Talks about the Increase in CBP Activity,” “Supplies Seizure Series: Canon Talks about the Increase in CBP Activity,” “Supplies Seizure Series: CBP Talks about Its Increased Enforcement of Exclusion Orders,” and “Supplies Seizure Series: Epson Talks about the Increase in CBP Activity.”
5. It All Starts with the Toner: Thoughts on HP’s Launch of JetIntelligence: This post is by industry analyst and former HP employee Jim Lyons, who shared his initial thoughts on the HP JetIntelligence launch.
4. Static Control and Apex Microelectronics to Merge: The Static Control/Apex Microelectronics deals was huge news in 2015. This article focused on just the announcement from the two companies, but our number-two post explored the ramifications of the news.
3. HP Debuts JetIntelligence Technology in Color LaserJet Pro M252/M277 and Color LaserJet Enterprise M552/M553: Yet another popular post on HP’s JetIntelligence technology. This piece looks at the hardware itself. While HP JetIntelligence was big news in 2015, so too was the aftermarket’s ability to quickly bring components and finished cartridges to market. We are surprised some of the stories about aftermarket solutions for JetIntelligence cartridges did not make out top 10 list.
2. Apex Weds Static Control and the Reman Chip Industry Gets a Lot Smaller: No shock that this post by Actionable Intelligence President Charles Brewer was nearly our most popular post of the year. Not only did Charlie dive deep into what the merger might mean, he did so in front of our paywall, so lots of readers wanting more info on the merger turned to this story.
1. A Look at Funai’s Kodak Verité 55: Our top story for 2015 in terms of view count provided a look at a brand-new (or really newish) entry on the inkjet scene: Funai’s Kodak-branded inkjet all-in-one available at Walmart, which uses many-year-old Lexmark integrated inkjet technology. The story grabbed attention because even though Funai signaled its intent to launch its own inkjets years ago, a new player entering the inkjet market is surprising given the tough economic realities that have caused other inkjet OEMs, such as Lexmark and Kodak, to exit the space. And again, this was content that is available to all readers, not just subscribers, and that tends to boost a story’s popularity.
As you can probably tell, I truly enjoy looking at and exploring what made certain stories popular. What readers like—and what they don’t—help shapes our coverage moving ahead.
Best wishes for the New Year, and I look forward to bringing you more printer and supplies industry news in 2016.
