HP's First 3D Printer Coming Next Year?

[Eddie]

I know many people on this site have been talking about HP perhaps launching a 3D Printer. Looks like they have plans to do just that, and perhaps as soon as next year!

This might not surprise you, but one day, that first 3D printer you buy could be made by HP.
While the 3D printer market is growing fast, so far HP has said very little about it. At least until today. At an event in Bangkok, HP CEO Meg Whitman confirmed that HP plans to enter the market as soon as mid-2014, as the Register reports.
“We are excited about 3D printing. We want to lead this businesses. HP labs is looking at it,” she said.[/COLOR]
The move is an obvious one for HP, which already has a legacy of making inkjet printer that many people have purchased (and probably tossed once the ink ran out).[/COLOR]
Missing from Whitman’s comments, however, was how HP planed to enter the 3D printer market, which is populated from top to bottom with low-end enthusiast printers, MakerBot Replicator-like consumer printers, and large-scale printers made by companies like Voxeljet.
In other words, even though 3D printing is in its infancy (as Whitman notes) it already has a lot of players — including publicly traded giants like 3D Systems and Stratasys.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is that HP has already entered the 3D printer market — albeit obliquely. Back in 2011, the company shipped the HP TopShot Laserjet printer (pictured above), which was unique among printers in that it was also able to scan 3D objects placed on top of it.

Read the entire article at:
http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/23/hps-first-3d-printer-could-come-as-soon-as-next-year/

[Compro01]

First? HP has made 3D printers for years. Their Designjet 3D printers have been available since 2010.

Most just haven't heard of them because I believe they've only sold them in Europe and the cheap version costs about $17k.

[RedSox2013]

I found it interesting that Meg Whitman, the HP CEO believes the "knee" of the exponential curve in the 3D Printing market is approximately 3 years away. She is basically saying that in 3 years there will be explosive growth in the market. Certainly will be an interesting time to watch.

Bottom of this article is the quote:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10...s_meg_whitman/

On top of this, there are rumors that HP may combine a 3d Printer with a Holographic display which could show you a virtual image of what will be printed. More on this here:
http://www.benzinga.com/news/13/10/4...a+News+Feed%29