On April 25, 2019, the UK market research organization Context released a report that shipments of industrial grade metal and polymer 3D printers continued to grow.
Chris Connery, vice president of global research at CONTEXT, said: "Metal printer shipments are expected to grow by more than 49% year-on-year, while polymer 3D printer shipments are expected to grow by more than 20%."
“Low-cost metal 3D printers are not only suitable for factory use, but also for office use, not necessarily competing with traditional metal 3D printers. Laser-melted powders are commonly used to print metal parts such as GE Additive, EOS. , SLM Solutions, 3D Systems equipment, etc."
From jet engine parts to orthopedic implants, powder bed laser 3D printers are now widely used. New low-cost metal printers are expected to further increase utilization, and it is now possible to create metal part prototypes in a more economical way and to achieve cheaper production of small-volume metal parts. ”
2018 metal 3D printer shipments
Context pointed out that shipments of 3D printers in the metal and polymer industry increased in 2018, mainly due to the launch of new products by companies such as markforged, carbon, hp and 3D Systems.
In particular, 3D Systems Inc.'s revenue increased in 2018. This can be attributed to portfolio enhancements such as Figure 4 Standalone system and NextDent 5100. In addition, Context reports that the emergence of low-cost metal 3D printers offers new price categories. This has enabled manufacturers to enter the growing market for metal additive manufacturing.
The table below shows the largest shipment of industrial metal 3D printer suppliers in Context, which was counted in 2018. These data include 3D printers that cost from $20,000 to $100,000 and above. The report acknowledges that sales of lower-priced multi-step metal 3D printers continue through markforged and desktop metal.
From the table we can see that GE Additive has the largest shipment volume, accounting for 18%, followed by Germany EOS accounting for 17%, and indirect metal 3D printer representative company Markforged shipments accounted for 9%, which is quite good. Four are German SLM Solutions and the fifth is 3D Systems.
Industrial Polymer 3D Printer Shipment in 2018
According to Context's report, a series of economical polymer 3D printers that can be used for small batch production will grow in 2019. New technologies, including Carbon's Digital Light Synthesizing (DLS) process and HP's multi-jet melting technology, are also believed to accelerate the adoption of 3D printing in small batch production.
The table below shows the top five industrial polymer 3D printer supplier shipments in Scope's 2018 shipments. The data also includes 3D printers that cost from $20,000 to $100,000 and above. Among them, Stratasys' shipments accounted for 37%, followed by Germany's EnvisionTEC shipments, which accounted for 16%, New Unicorn, Carbon, 9%, and 3D Systems, 9%. The high HP shipments accounted for 6% of the fifth shipment.
The Context report states: "In 2019, machine shipments in the industrial sector are expected to be 25% more than comparable shipments of similar products in the world in 2018.
In the field of industrial-grade 3D printers , there are no Chinese companies on the list, and Chinese companies still need to work hard.