Boing Boing: Why HP's region coding excuse is bogus:

In simple terms, HP has to worry about being paid $1US today, then try and buy $1EU of stuff next week, when that US dollar is only worth 80 cents in Europe - they just lost 20% on that transaction.

"Buck Thighmaster" has written a simple analysis of why HP's region coding scheme for printer cartridges, which HP claims is to protect them from global currency fluctuations, is totally bogus. Buck says HP ought to increase the price in a declining market (like the US) to insure themselves against further declines of the dollar against the other market economies.

What Buck fails to mention is that companies have long been able to insure themselves against currency fluctuations, and that obtaining such insurance is the precise reason why foreign exchange futures markets exist. If HP is concerned that the Euro will rise while the Dollar continues to fall, they need merely purchase a long contract on Euros for the dollar amount of merchandise they wish to insure. It isn't rocket science. All world-market players use it to insure themselves.

This just makes it all the more plain that HP is pulling wool in their justification for region-coding their print cartridges. I think it's a shame that a company with HP's stature and reputation would stoop to such simplistic attempts at deception.