- HP Inc.'s (NYSE:HPQ +0.6%) first 3D printers will be known as the Jet Fusion 3D 4200 and 3200. As the company claimed in 2014, the industrial-class printers are said to print objects 10x as fast as current hardware. HP also claims they'll do so at half the cost, and - thanks to HP's proprietary Multi Jet Fusion inkjet printing process - give customers "an unprecedented ability to transform part properties and deliver mass customization."
- Initial partners for the printers include Nike, BMW, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), contract manufacturer Jabil. CAD/CAM software firm Autodesk, industrial prototyping firm Proto Labs (PRLB +0.6%), and 3D printing software/services firm Materialise (MTLS +1%). Proto Labs will provide a product testing site for HP's printers, and Materialise's Magics 3D Print Suite will be compatible with them.
- J&J, meanwhile, will be collaborating with HP on using 3D printing to create personalize health care offerings. In the near-term, the companies will work on the "personalization of instrumentation and software for patient-specific healthcare devices."
- The 4200 will be delivered in late 2016, and the 3200 in 2017. Pricing for the 3200 starts at $130K (no word yet for the 4200). Long-term HP wants to offer 3D printers capable of embedding sensors and including "embedded information" such as invisible traces or codes.
- HP is hoping its entry into the growing 3D printing market will boost a printing unit that saw revenue drop 17% Y/Y in the January quarter to $4.64B. 3D Systems (DDD +3.2%) and Stratasys (SSYS +4.2%), two of the biggest players in the industrial 3D printing market, are trading higher. They sold off in 2014 when HP first unveiled Multi Jet Fusion.