The still nascent 3D printer market has a lot of things going for it - hype, investment dollars and consumer awareness, but until today, there has not been much controversy.
That stopped today when Hewlett-Packard's CEO Meg Whitman told shareholders that HP intends to land in the 3D printer market in a big way. Although the company has so far let half a dozen smaller players have the 3D market to themselves, that will change later this year when the company expects to announce its first printers.
Whitman was asked for some specifics on the company's 3D plans during its annual shareholder meeting. She responded, saying that the company is not ignoring 3D printing, but that the hype surrounding the market, but the printers now available are not ready for prime time. Particularly when it comes to print speeds.
"We think we've solved both of those problems," said Whitman, adding that current models print painfully slowly.
Whitman did not comment on whether her company had made a breakthrough in print speed, but one report had HP developing its own polymer which may or may not speed up the process. All 3D printers use spools of plastic wire as the "ink" in the printing process. The plastic is melted and then sprayed into the desired shape.
The company is expected to roll out its 3D plans in June. HP said it will focus on the large business applications for 3D printing such as producing prototypes and finished products, which should make most of the established players breathe easier as these firms have focused much of their efforts on the consumer and small business market.
HP announced last year that it had a stake in the 3D market and since then, some of the established players have made moves to protect themselves. Statasys acquired Makerbot and 3D Systems said earlier this year that it missed its quarterly financial numbers because it was trying to boost its sales and marketing reach so it would not be swamped when a major printing player enters the market.
Makerbot has been the busiest of the 3D companies rolling out a stead stream of consumer and business class printers this year.
