In her comments, Whitman divulged little detail about developing their own 3D printers. She simply said, “We are excited about 3D printing… We want to lead this business. HP Labs is looking at it."
In the past, HP has done extensive research into 3d printing with glass. Creating a system that could leverage such a delicate material could give them a quick foothold in the industry.
While introducing competition into a market that’s dominated by two giants is great, for HP could this venture be too little, too late?
HP’s brand has taken a massive hit in the last decade. In fact, back in 2011 HP's consumer products were viewed so negatively that they changed their entire business model, and exited the consumer PC market in an effort to focus on enterprise level software.
I wonder if their prior challenges will follow them into the 3D printing arena. If it does, it may not be too long before HP throws in the towel again.
Image Courtesy of the Sacramento Bee