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PC giant HP believes it will solve the problems surrounding 3D printers – namely their ‘lack of speed and quality’ – with a big announcement due in June.
HP CEO Meg Whitman told delegates at a shareholder conference: "3D printing has a lot of buzz and hype in the marketplace but there are two major problems with 3D printing.
"Have you ever watched a 3D printer print? It’s like watching ice melt.
“And the quality of today’s 3D printing is not as good as it should be. We believe we have solved both of those problems and we will announce a big technology announcement in June around how we are going to approach this.”
It seems HP’s initial approach will also be more geared towards the enterprise side and big business rather than the consumer market.
“We are going to focus on the business side of 3D printing first, before we get to the consumer side, because we think the bigger market is going to be in the enterprise space, which needs 3D printing for parts, for prototyping," Whitman added.
HP first revealed its plans for the 3D printer market in October 2013 and later HP compared 3D printing to an acorn, saying the technology could possibly “become an oak tree”.
Elsewhere in 3D printing, Hasbro has partnered with 3D Systems to develop 3D printers for kids and families, Computers Unlimited is distributing the MakerBot in the UK and Brother is remaining coy over its 3D printing plans.
