Canon has become an unusual victim of the global semiconductor shortage, as its printer cartridges are not shipping with chips to confirm they contain genuine ink from the company.

Canon is in a pickle. Its printers are not affirming the legitimacy of Canon ink cartridges, so it has to tell customers how to use other products.

As such, we’re now shipping toner cartridges for some of our MFP devices without this chip to ensure we’re still providing a continuous supply of consumables to our Canon U.S.A. customers.

Correction: Canon said in a statement that the only cartridges affected are toner cartridges, not ink. It also clarified that the ImageRunner printers are used in the office.

Now, printer maker Canon has had to resort to shipping ink cartridges without chips inside. These chips are used to detect toner levels and to verify the authenticity of ink cartridges.

The Canon PIXMA MP190 All-in-One Printer prints and copies in black and white or color, and creates color scans of originals up to 8.5 by 11.7 inches in size. Canon designs its ink tanks with ...

Digital Rights Mess-up Canon can’t get enough toner chips, so it’s telling customers how to defeat its DRM Lack of chips produces "no negative effects on print quality," Canon says.

As with most low-priced MFPs, Canon makes its real money by charging more for the ink. The Pixma MP490 ships with standard-size cartridges. The 220-page replacement costs $16 or a costly 7.3 cents ...