HP Schedules Media Events for October 29th – Big 3D Printing Announcement on the Way?

It’s only a matter of time until more of the big players within the tech industry begin inching their way into the 3D printing space. Autodesk has already done so, and earlier this year Hewlett Packard announced that they too would be making a big announcement related to 3D printing. At first, their CEO Meg Whitman claimed to have a ‘big technology announcement’ pertaining to 3D printing coming sometime in June of this year. Later the company corrected Whitman’s remarks, clarifying that any announcement will have to wait until October.

Here we are, with less than two weeks left in the month, and we’re all still waiting, wondering what exactly the technology giant will reveal, and if perhaps any announcement may have been pushed back again because of recent developments. Two weeks ago, Whitman and company announced that HP had made a decision to split into two different companies, HP Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.  This split would mean that HP Inc. led by CEO Dion Weisler, would be the ones who would eventually be stepping foot into this rapidly developing industry of 3D printing.

“HP Inc. will be well positioned to deliver innovation across our traditional markets as well as extend our leadership into new markets,” stated Dion Weisler, who will lead the new company, HP Inc. moving forward.

Just when many within the industry had given up hope for an October announcement, invites started going out to the press, related to two events scheduled to take place in New York City on October 29th. Although details of the events are lacking, we have confirmed that several major publications and media within the additive manufacturing/3D printing space have been invited.

Both media events will take place in a 5,000 sq. ft. special event venue at 545 West 22nd Street, in New York City. The first of the two events is scheduled from 9:00AM – 12PM, and the second from 6:00PM – 9:00PM. Like mentioned above, there is very little in terms of clues as to what this all could mean, with the first invite simply stating “reimagine the possibilities”, and the second, “HP + PAPER invite you to reimagine the possibilities of creativity”.

Whether this is hinting at something or not, who knows? Rumors point to HP staying out of the consumer 3D printing market for now, however, rumors are not always fact. The word ‘creativity’ which is used in one of the press invites isn’t a word you’d expect to find included if HP was simply announcing a machine targeted towards industrial or manufacturing use.

It’s pointless to speculate, as we will all find out exactly what the company’s plan are in a little over a week. Let’s hear your thoughts on HP’s possibly ‘Big’ 3D printing announcement in the HP 3D printing forum thread on 3DPB.com.