It really depends on who you talk to.  Some people will have a strong opinion leaning towards one or the other but all it takes is a little bit of observation.

Just to give you a recap, leftover toners are being re-purposed in New Zealand, sales are up in Western Europe, Ricoh ramps up its production line, franchisees are branching out to be on their own in the UK, cloud printing is available at FedEx locations in the US, Canon introduces new printers, HP to build a new factory in China, and a strong campaign against counterfeit cartridges.

What do these kinds of news tell us?  For starters, for a company to develop new technology from leftover toners, environmental accolades aside, it means that there is an anticipation of the continued and regular use of toners for some time to come. Otherwise said company would not invest the time and money to research and develop a product that it believes would not be a viable source of income in the future.  That means, this company in New Zealand, at the very least, expect that toners are here to stay.

When sales data are up, especially in Europe where there has been a recent economic crisis, that’s always a good sign.  When companies like Ricoh, Canon, and HP are opening new factories and introducing new products, that means there is a demand for their products and that in itself is a good sign for the aftermarket which rides on the coat tails of the OEMs.  And finally, when cloud printing is "mushrooming" across the US, that can only mean that a "harvest" is in the horizon.