3D printing yet to excite consumers, says analyst

But home market will grow swiftly to be worth one million units annually by 2018, Juniper Research predicts

Consumer shipments of 3D printers will rise by more than 20-fold over the next four years despite the technology having yet to capture the imagination of non-business buyers.

That is according to market watcher Juniper Research, which predicts that consumer shipments of 3D printers will bulge from 44,000 this year to more than one million by 2018, before rising "significantly" thereafter.

Last year retailers such as Dixons began stocking entry-level 3D printers, while this month Staples launched a US pilot scheme allowing customers to use in-store 3D printers on demand.

But as it stands, the technology - although beginning to gain traction in the business market - has yet to take consumers by storm, the analyst said.

"Killer applications with the appropriate ecosystem of software, apps and materials have yet to be identified and communicated," it said.

"The established printing vendors have also yet to 'show their cards', but niche and novelty applications are on the increase. For instance, companies such as Hasbro and Hersheys are working with 3D printing vendors to develop unique applications for consumer use."

But the entry of more established vendors into the market, such as HP, will drive an "ever-widening scope of applicability" in the market, Jupiter said

According to Wohler Associates, the overall 3D printer market will grow from $2.2bn (£1.3bn) in 2012 to $6bn in 2017, before rising to $10.8bn in 2021.