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The CEO of HP has compared 3D printing to an “acorn”, saying the technology could possibly “become an oak tree”.
Meg Whitman made the comparison during a Q&A session concerning HP’s $1.4 billion (£0.86 billion) profit for Q4 2013.
“We intend to play in the 3D printing market,” Whitman said.
“It’s obviously different than paper printing, but some of the technology is the same. At least as we sit here today, we anticipate entering this organically.”
“What we’re doing is focusing on what’s the value proposition by market segment, whether that be consumer or industrial – what’s the competitive differentiation?”
“We’ve got some very interesting things coming, so stay tuned in 2014.”
Whitman had previously announced that the company was planning a 3D printing reveal for mid-2014.
“This is an acorn, right,” she said, on the future adoption and evolution of the technology.
“You’ve heard me say we’ve got to plant acorns and they will eventually become oak trees, but you should think in 2014 and 2015 that this is an acorn that maybe has very good long potential.”
“But the market is at its earliest stages and there is a lot of technology work that needs to be done to be able to print in the kind of timeframe that most consumers and most industries would actually find acceptable.”
