3D printing sees bumper year thanks to personal shipments

Shipments of low-priced personal and desktop 3D printers up 38 per cent for first three quarters of 2015, according to Context

Global shipments of 3D printers saw a bumper year in 2015, thanks to sharp growth of low-priced personal/desktop units, according to analyst Context.

For the first three quarters of 2015, worldwide shipments of 3D printers were at 173,962 units, an increase of 35 per cent from the same period last year. Of these shipments, 95 per cent were personal/desktop 3D printers, mainly priced below $5,000 (£3,400), with this section up 38 per cent year on year.

Chris Connery, vice president for global analysis at Context, said the lower end of the market is particularly appealing for students.

"While not quite yet resonating with general consumers, desktop 3D printers remain an important gateway technology for the evolution of the 3D printing industry," he said. "Today's young engineers, students, and hobbyists need to become exposed to the concepts necessary to allow them to properly design products for an additive manufacturing environment and low-cost, entry-level personal 3D printers allow for this learning to take place more rapidly."

But despite this growth in the personal segment, the industrial/professional section saw a three per cent year-on-year decline in shipments over the first three quarters of 2015 with only 8,706 units shipped.

This market, which sees prices range from $20,000 to more than $1.5m, suffered in 2015 after "the hype from recent years faded", a statement from Context said.

In September, HP announced the creation of a new 3D printing business and other big players such as Canon and Ricoh are expected to join the market soon.

The wait for these bigger players is "potentially slowing expensive capital investments in 3D printers until these new technologies arrive", Context said.

Overall, Context tipped the 3D printing market, including hardware, materials and services, to grow from $4.3bn in 2015 to $17.7bn in 2020. The industrial space will see strong growth in metals, and the personal and desktop space will see progress in the education market.

XYZprinting replaced MakerBot as the worldwide leader in the 3D printing market, with 17 per cent market share and 28,300 shipments. This was followed by 3D Systems with 12 per cent market share and 20,290 units shipped.