In consumables, they are competing with third-party ink/toner - which is pretty much the reason for most of their nasty behavior. Still, it's their choice to sell hard to replicate printers at cost, and recoup losses on selling much easier to replicate ink/toner. They could do it the other way, but they don't, and I'm not clear exactly why.
At this point, I suspect there may be a rule in economics that says roughly: it's better if your customers have to spend less money with you, but more often, than more money but less frequently. I.e. it's better to have them spend $1 every month with you than $12 every year. And I feel it could hold even if you correct for time value of money - it seems the businesses see some value in the frequency of repeat interactions with a customer itself.
At this point, I suspect there may be a rule in economics that says roughly: it's better if your customers have to spend less money with you, but more often, than more money but less frequently. I.e. it's better to have them spend $1 every month with you than $12 every year. And I feel it could hold even if you correct for time value of money - it seems the businesses see some value in the frequency of repeat interactions with a customer itself.