Dirt Cheap 3D Printers from HP?

This is something that I have discussed with other industry experts. As you know, Hewlett Packard has been selling dirt cheap 2D Printers for years. Basically they give printers away, but make a killing on selling over priced ink and toner cartridges. Could this same model be used in their 3D Printing counterpart?

We know that HP is going to enter the 3D printing industry sometime in 2014. Could they utilize the same business model, and sell high quality 3D printers at a fraction of the price that we see StrataSys and 3D Systems sell them for?

They could. All they would have to do is make it so that their printers are only compatible with a certain type of filament, resin etc. That type of filament or resin would only be able to be purchased from HP. The prices of the filament and resin would not have to be much higher (if at all) that what is out there today. However, HP could utilize econonies of scale to make a fortune. If they sold thousands of printers, all requiring their filament/resin, they could open huge warehouses to mass produce it.

I think that's how HP will greatly reduce the price of 3D Printers. Think about it. MakerBot printers use filament that can be purchased virtually anywhere. If they somehow made their printers only compatible with the filament that they sell, then they could afford to reduce the price of their printers, knowing they would make a killing off filament sales.

Your theory has been industry speculation for a while now. Certainly, what you're saying is possible, but I'm not really sure anybody outside of HP knows exactly how they are going to approach their entry into the market. Their CEO has talked at length about leveraging their existing inkjet technology, which would translate to professional class machines similar to either the Mcor Iris, 3D Systems' x60 line (the old Zcorp stuff), or possibly something like what we see from Objet. These are all high margin, low volume products -- the opposite of the business model you describe.

Another theory is that Stratasys bought MakerBot so a titan like HP couldn't buy them and turn them into the high volume, low margin consumer line you describe.

Does anyone know if HP is at CES this week? That would be an interesting time for an announcement.

HP has spent millions in R&D. They are taking a different approach than all of us other 3D printer manufacturers. My theory is that they will have a new product they will spend millions to market Here is the question: Is the market big enough to do that? Nope. That is why it will cost them lots to market. I look at it as free marketing for all small time 3D printer manufacturers.

I think HP is going to launch a new ceramic material invented by Prof. Stephen Hoskins of the Center of Fine Printing Research. They will also launch a 3D printer that prints and paints ceramics in one iteration (before firing). This way, HP will penetrate the $400 billion ceramics market.

That is a pretty good theory.

Elizo,

Interesting theory. We believe that 3D artists (artists who already know how to make 3D models) are the largest untapped 3D printing market on the planet, with about 40 million active software licenses issued. A move specifically toward them would make sense, but I'm not sure the industry is expecting it.

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Originally Posted by elizo

I think HP is going to launch a new ceramic material invented by Prof. Stephen Hoskins of the Center of Fine Printing Research. They will also launch a 3D printer that prints and paints ceramics in one iteration (before firing). This way, HP will penetrate the $400 billion ceramics market.

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Just wondering.... what makes you believe this?

I'd think HP would want to cover more materials than just ceramics.

HP will indeed cover a multitude of of materials. However, Prof. Stephen Hoskins invention is dealing with a new ceramic material.
HP develops a 3D printer which separates printing of the product's core and product's shell. The core is made of a strong material using a certain binder while the shell is made of a different material using an aquaous binder. By separating core from shell, they get a solid product with a smooth multicolor shell .