Analyst Trip Chowdhry has made reckless predictions about Apple in the past

May 16, 2014 16:37 GMT  ·  By
A 3D printer is not an oven, mind you, but a device that pours plastic in a controlled manner to create an object drawn on a computer
   A 3D printer is not an oven, mind you, but a device that pours plastic in a controlled manner to create an object drawn on a computer

There are many things Apple is “looking into,” including applications involving liquidmetal and graphene, wrist-worn devices that can track our vital signs, 3D interfaces even. But 3D printers? Now that’s a bit of a stretch.

But not if you ask Trip Chowdhry, the managing director of Equity Research at Global Equities Research. After predicting that Apple will crash and burn if it doesn’t launch the iWatch within 60 days (that’s Monday, by the way), he’s at it again with a prediction more stupendous than all his other projections combined.

And that is: Apple is secretly amassing technology to develop a 3D printer that makes... well, he doesn’t say what the printer will actually be used for. He just thinks Apple is planning to sell one, period. Here’s the scoop from Benzinga:

“It's either Apple or Microsoft [that inspired Google]. But developers feel that Apple is probably the focus for Google because Google considers Apple to be its prime competitor, not Microsoft. And Google really sees Apple to be a strong competitor, not Microsoft, because Microsoft has a lot of issues to worry about,” says Chowdhry.

“Apple does have intellectual property [in that space]. And they often have more expertise in hardware development than, say, Microsoft has,” he adds.

Editor’s note Apple might as well be looking into a lot of things, including 3D printing. In fact, 3D printing is a very tantalizing prospect for the 21st century. The company that manages to put one in every home – much like Apple and Microsoft did with computers back in the day – will certainly make a great history lesson for future generations of entrepreneurs.

But with all due respect for Mr. Chowdhry, where’s the actual evidence that such a thing is being pondered at 1 Infinite Loop?

3D printing isn’t exactly a market that anyone can play in. And Apple has bigger fish to fry at the moment, such as wearable computers and tablets that can forever render desktop computers obsolete. After all, that's the market they play in.

It doesn’t mean Apple can’t do it. They can probably fit 3D printing in their portfolio just like they did with the Apple TV, keeping it as a hobby until it matures enough to become something more.

Perhaps Mr. Chowdhry should have provided a deadline for Apple’s 3D Printer as well, just to give us an idea if he thinks this is a top priority project or something that’s merely in the cards for a potential new business in the next 5 to 10 years.