HP losing to counterfeits in Kenya

Kenya's IT industry has the potential for 200 percent growth but has been hampered by counterfeit products, said Charles Munyororo, Hewlett-Packard East Africa's enterprise sales manager.

The market for toners, cartridges and other consumables in the country is losing more than 500 million Kenya shillings (US$7.1 million) every month due to counterfeits, he said.

HP products have been greatly affected, Munyororo added. In a market making 737 million shillings per month, only about 30 percent to 40 percent of sales are of genuine products.

The extent of the losses occasioned by counterfeits was demonstrated two weeks ago during a raid, which Munyororo said netted counterfeit products worth more than 11 million shillings.

HP carries advertisements in newspapers warning consumers about counterfeit products and has called on the government to expedite the enactment of the Anti-Counterfeit Bill in order to save IT firms from greater losses.

To beat the counterfeiters, HP has introduced measures like holograms to help their customers differentiate between fake and genuine products, said Eric Kiragu, HP's supplies channel manager. The hologram on a genuine HP product's box has light and dark-blue shades, and the products also have embedded microchips, he noted.

HP supplies the Kenyan market with IT products in computing, imaging and printing.