看好3D打印产业的未来前景，惠普(HP)宣布将在明年中推出一系列3D打印机，以期刺激该公司的成长。惠普公司的目标是利用其于打印机业务的长久经验与庞大资源，在2014年发表一系列针对消费应用与工业级的3D打印机。
惠普首席执行官惠特曼(Meg Whitman)在日前的财务会议上首度提到跨入3D打印领域的计划。但她也坦承，对于目前仍持续挣扎中的惠普公司来说，过去造成的冲击还将持续一段时间。
不过，3D打印目前还处于萌芽期，并不会很快地发展成为大规模的业务，预计还要3-5年左右的时间才可能带来爆发性成长，因此，这对于HP来说也是个很好的机会。
惠特曼说，这将为2014年与2015年带来成长基础，以及良好的长期发展潜力，透过“以大部份消费者与企业觉得可接受的方式进行打印，新的 3D 打印业务型态存在许多可能的应用，”同时，3D打印将采用一些与惠普打印机事业部门相同的技术。
尽 管惠普的打印机与PC销售仅微幅下滑，但惠普声称表现已优于整体产业的下滑幅度。截至10月31日，惠普在2013财政年度的营收约1,122亿美元，下 滑7%。但相较于2012年大幅亏损126亿美元，今年仍可勉强取得51亿美元的利润。此外，惠普第4季营收291亿美元，扣除部分费用后的每股获利约 1.01美元，但该公司预计未来一年每股获利可望微幅提高到2.85～3.05美元左右。
惠特曼曾经说，惠普的营运情况改善并不只是线性维持的结果，而是取得了巨大的进展，特别是在减少债务以及增加现金流方面。然而，惠普的核心业务预期将持续面对各种挑战。过去三个月来，整个PC出货量下滑了9.5%，而DRAM价格持续上涨。惠普首席财务官Cathy Lesjack表示，随着内存价格持续增加的影响，这一季的营收将会更急剧下滑。
根 据市场研究公司Canalys的报告指出，2014平板电脑将占全球PC市场的50%。为了追求更大的市场动能，惠普也开始推出屏幕和键盘可分离或折迭变 形成为平板电脑的二合一笔记本电脑。“目前讨论这种二合一笔电需求如何发展仍为时过早，但我们已推出许多创新外形设计的产品，因此，等到圣诞旺季过后就可以了解更多了。”
惠普自去年删减20亿美元的人事成本(包括 Unix服务器的大笔研发支出)后，已经有多达24,600人离开惠普了。此外，由于惠普计划精简另11亿美元的支出，预计还有33,000人或更多也将在 2014年离去。尽管如此，惠普仍在去年持续增加其整体工程研发团队。在2014年，惠普计划持续提高整体研发支出。
在销售衰退的2013年，网络设备与服务器可说是唯一的亮点，但尽管如此，销售成长也十分微薄，营收仅较去年成长了2%。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
参考英文原文：3D Printers 'an Acorn' for Struggling HP，by Rick Merritt
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3D Printers 'an Acorn' for Ailing HP
Rick Merritt
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Hewlett-Packard will launch a line of 3D printers next year to spark growth. Word of the plan came at the end of a call with financial analysts to discuss marginally upbeat results for the quarter and year.
The computer and printer company aims to release consumer and industrial-grade 3D printers in 2014, leveraging its massive paper printing business. But chief executive Meg Whitman, who first discussed the plan late last month, said on the call that the impact on the still-struggling corporation's bottom line will be modest for some time.
"This is an acorn in 2014 and 2015 with very good long potential," Whitman said. "There's a lot of potential to print in ways most consumers and companies would find acceptable," and 3D printers use "some of the same technologies" as HP's paper printer group.
Printer and PC sales were dropped marginally, though HP claimed its results outperformed declines in the overall industry. For the fiscal year that ended Oct. 31, HP's revenue fell 7% to $112.2 billion. The company eked out a $5.1 billion profit following a $12.6 billion loss in 2012. It expects earnings per share in the coming fiscal year to rise slightly to a range of $2.85 to $3.05.
HP's "turnaround was not linear," but the company is making "great progress," especially in reducing debt and improving cashflow, Whitman said. Nevertheless, continued challenges are expected in its core businesses. Industrywide shipments of traditional PCs fell 9.5% in the last three months amid rising DRAM prices. And Cathy Lesjack, HP's chief financial officer, said revenue declines could be even steeper this quarter as a result of continued high memory prices.
A Canalys report says tablets could make up half the PC market in 2014. Seeking traction in that market, HP is shipping convertible notebooks with screens and keyboards that can detach or fold to create tablets. "It's too early to tell how demand for convertibles is going," Whitman said. "We have a lot of innovative form factors, and we'll know more after this Christmas season."
As many as 24,600 people left HP last year as it cut about $2 billion in labor costs, including a significant part of its R&D in Unix servers. Another 33,000 or more will leave in 2014 as HP tries to trim another $1.1 billion. That said, HP added to its overall engineering ranks in its last fiscal year. In 2014, it aims to increase its overall R&D spending, which slumped in the last 12 months.
Networking gear and servers were the only bright spots in otherwise depressed sales for the year. Even in those sectors, sales growth was razor thin. HP reported these fiscal 2013 results.
? Networking and server revenue rose 2% from the previous year with a 14.5% operating margin.
? Printing revenue fell 1% with a 17.7% operating margin.
? Personal systems revenue fell 2% with a 3% operating margin.
? Software revenue fell 9% with a 30.8% operating margin.
? Enterprise services revenue declined 9% with a 4.4% operating margin.
