HP has recently come under fire from the Boston Globe, who have reported that Redington Gulf, a third-party based in Dubai has been selling HP printers in Iran for 11 years, since 1997.
HP has partnered with them, but if the partnership began with knowledge that printers will be sold in Iran by Redington Gulf, HP could face trade sanctions, as the US currently prohibits exports to Iran. HP claims that it fully complies with US export laws, but further investigation yielded conflicting answers.
In the late 1990s, before the partnership began, an HP executive had talked about sales in Iran and HP"s desire to be in the market. Soon after, the partnership was formed, and Redington"s website says "HP supplies as our first product, we started operations as the distributor for Iran."
The popularity of HP printers is also astonishing, a 40% market share. The printers are popular because of their scarcity and comparative reliability. Will the US pursue HP or fine it? It is highly possible as tensions rise in the region.