Brother Industries Ltd.

Brother Industries Ltd.

Basic information
Founded	1908
Legal Structure	Public
Industry	Electronics, Machinery, Printing
Also known as
Official website	https://global.brother/

Brother Industries Ltd. manufactures and sells communications and printing equipment in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It operates through Printing & Solutions, Machinery, Domino, Nissei, Personal & Home, and Network & Contents segments.

Brother has faced consumer criticism and regulatory action, having been criticized for practices that allegedly reduce choice, obfuscate information and accelerate product obsolescence.

Brother non-industrial printers & copiers hold the third largest market share in the Asia Pacific region^[1] and are a popular choice for home and small business users. Brother's monochromatic, colour, multi-function, laser, and inkjet printers offer a low-price entry and are sold at most large box retailers, where consumables such as toners and cartridges are also readily available. Within the printer category at the largest office and stationery retailer in Australia, Officeworks, Brother is the most represented brand.^[2]

Users have reported that Brother has initiated various methods to limit or reduce functionality on many printers prior and during usage. This includes:

• 3rd party consumable lockout on various printer models^{[3][more citations needed]}
• Reduction in print capacity via software, firmware and hardware^[4]
• Disabling of functionality via print counters, software and firmware^{[5][more citations needed]}
• Nagware screens or pop-ups indicating firmware or software should be updated
• Limited or obfuscated information regarding effects of software or firmware update implementation^{[6][more citations needed]}

Listed models, links and issue cases from users experiencing restrictive implementation:

• TN620 Laser Toner: print counter reduces copy capacity^[4]
• MFC-3750CDW All-in-One Printer: 3rd party cartridge rejection^[6]
• Cartridge Battery Prevents Ink Usage: DCP 3550 CDW Cartridge Failure
• MFC-L2750DW All-in-One Printer: 3rd party cartridge rejection
• Removal of all older OS updates out of nowhere starting 2025^[7] making any non current operating system impossible to get working drivers for their printers even thought the OS is still used in production in certain environments. (Operating systems like macOS Monterey)
• Removal of cloud features (Scan-to and Print-from Dropbox, Box, OneDrive and Google Drive) on devices with firmware that doesn't support TLS1.2, removing features still advertised on their website.