Where chips lead, compatibles surely follow. That would seem to be the rule for Brother compatibles since Geehy Microelectronics (formerly Apex Microelectronics) recently announced the launch of replacement chips for ink cartridges used in a wide range of Brother inkjet all-in-ones.
On February 27, Actionable Intelligence reported on the release of chips from Geehy, Ninestar’s chipmaking arm, along with Ninestar’s own announcement of G&G-brand compatible cartridges for the same family of Brother devices. Orink Infotech International also announced the launch of its compatible inkjet cartridges at the same time (see “Ninestar and Orink Announce Compatibles and Geehy Announces Chips for Brother Inkjet Cartridges”).
The flood of new compatibles continued on February 28 with news from more Ninestar subsidiaries. Zhuhai National Resources & Jingjie Printing Technology, which sells cartridges under the Ink-Tank brand and is 100 percent owned by Ninestar, announced that it had compatible inkjet cartridges for the latest generation of Brother inkjet all-in-ones. Clearly, parent company Ninestar let Ink-Tank know chips from Geehy/Apex would soon be available because Ink-Tank issued an announcement previewing these cartridges in December (see “Ink-Tank Says Brother Inkjet Cartridges Are Coming Soon and Epson Ink Bags Are Available Now”). Ourway Image Tech Co., Ltd., the Chinese trading arm of Ninestar’s manufacturing subsidiary Kingway, also announced that it now has Starink-brand compatible versions of these Brother inkjet cartridges. Chinese consumables manufacturer Topjet Technology Co., which is 51 percent owned by Ninestar, has joined the fray and announced its own compatible cartridges for this family of Brother devices.
The list of cartridge models and devices is extensive, and you can review specific details about cartridge yields and printer models in each of the manufacturer’s announcements to which we linked above. Generally speaking, however, Chinese third-party manufacturers have released the following Brother compatibles for various regions:
- Japan: LC411, LC412/LC412XL, LC414, LC416/LC416XL, and LC417/LC417XL.
- Oceana: LC431/LC431XL, LC432/LC432XL, and LC436/LC436XL.
- Asia: LC451/LC451XL and LC456/LC456XL.
- North and South America: LC401/LC401XL, LC402/LC402XL, and LC406/LC406XL.
- Europe: LC421/LC421XL, LC422/LC422XK, LC 424, LC426/LC426XL, LC427/LC427XL, ans LC462/LC462XL.
- Middle East and Africa: LC472/LC472XL.
All of these compatible inkjet cartridges are for use in Brother’s new lineup of inkjet all-in-ones that the Japanese OEM began releasing in June 2021 (see “Brother Lowers Total Printing Costs with New Ink Tanks and INKvestment Tank All-in-Ones,” “Brother Launches INKvestment Tank Models Featuring MAXIDRIVE Technology,” and “Brother Debuts New Inkjet Cartridges in MFC-J5340DW and Adds MFC-J5955DW to Workhorse Series”).
Given the spate of introductions of new-build compatibles for these Brother devices launched just this week, it seems safe to say that Brother’s period of enjoying almost all the market share from sales of replacement inkjet cartridges for this generation of products has come to an end.
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