HP Releases More Details About Its 3D Printing Plans

Additive manufacturing (AM) has, so far, been an inside race with the biggest players, 3D Systems and Stratasys, making moves and counter moves, both trying to carve out its own niche in the market. Both competitors have made acquisitions to extend the company’s reach, though 3DS is certainly better known for the tactic. At this point the race is too close to call.

The wildcards in the mix are companies the likes of HP, which have shown interest in 3D printing. These are global entities that already have the resources in place to make a big impact in the AM market with the release of a single product. HP has begun to release more information about its plans for AM, and promises an announcement in June that will illuminate its future in the 3D printing business. 

Meg Whitman, HP CEO, has made it clear that one of the problems she sees with the current state of AM is the speed, likening the build process to, “watching ice melt.” The second major issue, according to Whitman, is the quality of materials used, which has an adverse effect on the durability of end-use products.

“We actually think we’ve solved these problems,” Whitman reported at HP’s annual shareholders meeting. “The bigger market is going to be in the enterprise space, manufacturing parts and prototypes in ways that were not possible before.”

More information about HP’s plans can be found in an interview posted on HP’s blog with Martin Fink, CTO and director of HP Labs. Both Stratasys and 3DS have suggested they are too well established in the 3D printing market to be challenged by a new competitor, no matter how well-known. A number of AM observers have also posited the idea that HP is a little late to the party. Fink disagrees.

“Critics might say so, but that could be because they’re making the mistake of equating the opportunity in 3D printing to other consumer technology or printing breakthroughs. We want to make good quality, high accuracy parts. Today, you can get a really good inkjet printer capable of producing beautiful prints for very little money, in just a few seconds. The average consumer would be disappointed in the results from a similarly-priced 3D printer. The quality just isn’t there and it takes hours and hours to produce even simple parts.”

Fink also suggests that HP isn’t convinced that everyone will need or want a 3D printer at home, but is more certain that a large number of consumers will enjoy having access to a service bureau. HP intends to be the company that provides high quality AM systems to service bureaus to fill consumer needs.

UPDATE: HP has backed off claims it will announce its plans by June, moving the date to October.

Below you’ll find a short video about HP.

Sources: HP, HP Next