Printwell's Ink Jet

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LulaBrazilia: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 116; Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:50 amFollowed by: 1 member

by LulaBrazilia » Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:41 pm

Printwell's Ink Jet Division manufactures ink-jet printers and the ink cartridges they use. Sales of its ink-jet printers have increased. Monthly revenues from those sales, however, have not increased, because competition has forced Printwell to cut the prices of its printers. Unfortunately, Printwell has been unable to bring down the cost of manufacturing a printer. Thus, despite the increase in printer sales, the Ink Jet Division must be contributing less to the company's profits than it used to.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

(A) Ink-jet printers in regular use frequently need new ink cartridges, and Printwell's printers only accept Printwell's ink cartridges.

(B) Unlike some competing companies, Printwell sells all of its printers through retailers, and these retailers' costs account for a sizable proportion of the printers' ultimate retail price.

(C) Some printer manufacturers have been forced to reduce the sale price of their ink-jet printers even more than Printwell has.

(D) In the past year, no competing manufacturer of ink-jet printers has had as great an increase as Printwell in unit sales of printers.

(E) In the past year, sales of Printwell's ink-jet printers have increased more than sales of any other type of printer made by Printwell

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:41 pm

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by Patrick_GMATFix » Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:53 pm

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Abhishek009: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 359; Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:37 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Kolkata, India; Thanked: 50 times

by Abhishek009 » Sun Feb 23, 2014 7:06 am

LulaBrazilia wrote:Printwell's Ink Jet Division manufactures ink-jet printers and the ink cartridges they use. Sales of its ink-jet printers have increased. Monthly revenues from those sales, however, have not increased, because competition has forced Printwell to cut the prices of its printers. Unfortunately, Printwell has been unable to bring down the cost of manufacturing a printer. Thus, despite the increase in printer sales, the Ink Jet Division must be contributing less to the company's profits than it used to.

Sale of Inkjet Printers Increased , but Revenue has not increased since it has cut prices as a result of Price Competition from its Competitors.

Cost of Manufacturing can not be reduced , hence Inkjet Printers is Contributing less than it used to.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

Our Prime target here is attack the red highlighted part.

(A) Ink-jet printers in regular use frequently need new ink cartridges, and Printwell's printers only accept Printwell's ink cartridges.

Regular inkjet users prefer Printwell's Ink cartridges , hence sales of the product is accepted to remain stable for sometime.

Hence revenue from this source is expected to remain in Proportion to the Sales.

(B) Unlike some competing companies, Printwell sells all of its printers through retailers, and these retailers' costs account for a sizable proportion of the printers' ultimate retail price.

Out of scope an irrelevant outright.

(C) Some printer manufacturers have been forced to reduce the sale price of their ink-jet printers even more than Printwell has.

Out of scope.

(D) In the past year, no competing manufacturer of ink-jet printers has had as great an increase as Printwell in unit sales of printers.

Out of scope.

(E) In the past year, sales of Printwell's ink-jet printers have increased more than sales of any other type of printer made by Printwell.

We don't have sufficient Information to claim the same....

Thus IMO (A) ...

Abhishek

GMAT/MBA Expert

[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Mon Feb 24, 2014 6:04 pm

Hi Lula Brazilia,

This prompt is a WEAKEN question. We'll need to understand the logic behind the prompt and then ATTACK that logic. It's worth noting that this prompt is very specifically worded to include some details that the average Test Taker might miss.

The Facts:
-Printwell's Ink Jet Division manufactures printers AND ink cartridges for those printers.
-Sales of their printers have INCREASED, but monthly revenues have NOT INCREASED.
-Sales price of their printers have DECREASED (a response due to competition); Printwell is UNABLE to decrease the cost of manufacturing a printer.

The Conclusion:
The Ink Jet DIVISION MUST be contributing LESS to company's profits than it used to.

The Logic:
Even though sales of the printers are UP, the price is DOWN, so the INK JET DIVISION is contributing less profits than before. This logic holds true if the ENTIRE INK JET DIVISION has seen a drop in profits.

To weaken the logic, we need to find an answer that tells us how/why the INK JET DIVISION is NOT down AS A WHOLE. The information about the printers makes it likely that that correct answer will tell us how the DIVISION is actually making profits BEYOND the printer sales.

The correct answer A tells us how the DIVISION is making money (and likely a profit) on something besides its printers.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

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