Weisler Set To Unveil HP's First 3-D Printer At Glitzy NY Premiere

Dion Weisler, who is poised to become the CEO of HP Inc., the company's $57 billion printing and PC business business, is bringing together fashion designer glitterati for HP's eagerly anticipated foray into the 3-D printing market in a glitzy New York press conference set for the evening of October 29, sources said.

HP has already sent out initiations for the affair with a series of invites on HP's behalf from the likes of designer celebrities including Adam Selman, a fashion designer for signer Rihanna, illustrator and director Todd Selby, food art creator Beau Coffron, who has popularized fun bento style lunches at lunchboxdad.com, hip interior design blogger SFgirlbybay.com Victoria Smith, and Martha Stewart Living Crafts Editor Erin Furey.

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Weisler, who has already established a knack for taking HP into new directions by launching a phablet in India and pushing HP heavily into the Android market, is going to deliver a 3-D printer product that can be used by creative artists and businesses, sources said.

HP would not comment on whether the invite is for a 3-D product launch.

HP is holding the 3-D printing coming-out party at the fashionable 545 building in New York City, described as a "5,000 square-foot column-free venue located right near the High Line in the heart of the Chelsea Arts District."

Majdi "Mike" Daher, CEO of Denali Advanced Integration, Redmond, Wash., No. 91 on CRN's SP500 list, said HP's move into the 3-D printing is long overdue and sure to shake up the 3-D printing market.set a new high water mark for the 3-D printing market.

NEXT: A Watershed Moment For Weisler And HP's Printing and Personal Systems Business

Daher sees the product debut as a watershed moment both for Weisler, executive vice president of HP's Printing and Personal Systems business in the wake of HP's split announcement. "Everybody was waiting for HP's move into the 3-D printing market," said Daher. "I see this as Dion bringing a product to the market that will truly be a differentiator for HP."

HP had signaled it was set to launch a 3-D printing product earlier in the year, but Weisler pulled it back to make sure it was the right product for the market, sources said.

"HP is not going to get a second shot at this," the source said. "So Dion waited to make sure HP truly delivers innovation that is not being brought by anybody else."

One of the keys to HP Inc.'s future success will be Weisler's no-nonsense focus on listening to customers to drive new innovative products, said Daher.

"The thing about Dion is he is a salesperson," Daher said. "He is very close the customer. He was promoted up through ranks in his career through sales, not from the boardroom. He is making bets based on customer needs rather than purely as a product person."

The 3-D printer offering is a great example of the kind of innovative new products that are going to become even more prevalent when HP Inc. is its own publicly traded company under Weisler, said Daher. "What the split is going to allow HP Inc. to do is to accelerate innovation by leveraging more of its assets," he said. "None of the competitors have the assets that HP has in printing."

PUBLISHED OCT. 17, 2014