Demand for industrial 3D printers soars in 2018 - analyst

Industrial 3D printer segment sees 27 per cent year-on-year increase in 2018, Context predicts

The industrial 3D printer market saw demand surge in 2018 fuelled by soaring demand for lower-priced machines, according to analyst Context.

The research house divided the market into four classes: industrial, print, design, and desktop, with shipments for industrial-class units predicted to see a 27 per cent year-on-year increase. It had already seen 19 per cent growth in the first three quarters of 2018.

Chris Connery, VP for global analysis at Context, said: "While the likes of GE Additive, 3D Systems, EOS and others saw nice shipment growth in industrial 3D metal printers, the real story in this class is about new, lower-priced metal printers from brands such as Markforged which saw shipments soar in 2018."

Lower-priced metal 3D printers typically sell for between $100,000 (£78,000) and $125,000, compared with the $2m that their more costly counterparts can fetch. Manufacturers Markforged and Desktop Metal are the market leaders in the segment for 2018, according to Context.

Industrial-class printers also saw an increase in plastic shipments, with 12 per cent growth in the first three quarters of 2018.

Context attributes this to strong increases in the US and Europe, along with solid domestic sales from China's Tech Union and growth in the market for vendors, such as HP, which showed a 65 per cent increase in industrial printer shipments.

Both professional and design classes are projected to finish 2018 with single-digit year-on-year growth in unit shipments.

Desktop 3D printers is the only class to report a negative figure, with 13 per cent fewer printers shipped in the first three quarters of 2018.

This decrease is expected to continue into the fourth quarter, leading to an overall decline in global shipments in this class compared with 2017's figures.