Is It ESUN or eSUN?

At a recent 3D print trade show, I was surprised to find TWO exhibition stands for ESUN. I was wrong. 

For some years I’ve seen ESUN products involved in 3D printing. ESUN is typically mentioned as one of the premier suppliers of 3D printer filament, and also one that produces 3D printers. 

But wait, there are actually TWO companies named ESUN!

Both are from China and both are from Shenzhen, no less. 

One company is Shenzhen Esun Industrial Co. Ltd. This is the company that produces the familiar eSUN 3D printer filament. They also produce a line of 3D printing pens. 

The other company is Shenzhen ESUN Display Co Ltd., who make 3D scanners and 3D printers. 

Both are informally called “ESUN” by the public, leading to considerable confusion. In fact, when meeting with ESUN Display, the first information they provided was a clarification of the two different companies. 

While most people are familiar with the filament maker, let’s talk about the other company and its products. 

ESUN Display began in 2001 as a maker of electronic displays, but delved into 3D technology in 2011, starting with 3D scanning technologies. Since then, they’ve been able to develop effective tabletop and full body 3D scanners. They also provide interesting AR and VR applications. 

Here you can see one example, where they’ve 3D scanned a face in detail, and placed it on a 3D scanned body (yes, the same person, but two different scan operations). The kiosk then applies clothing options to the 3D model, showing the viewer almost exactly what they would look like if wearing the outfit in real life. 

ESUN Display provides much of their product to the education market in China, where schools demand “full solutions” for 3D scanning and 3D printing. 

Currently ESUN Display markets five different 3D printers, thus providing a wide choice for educators in different levels and disciplines. Along with the hardware, the company also provides textbooks on the technology to the trade schools. 

Their line of 3D printers includes three plastic extrusion machines, an SLA resin machine and a DLP resin device, with prices ranging from USD$1,000 to USD$8,000 for the DLP. Apparently they have two more machines coming in September of this year. 

Their hope is to engage Western educators with their equipment in the same way they’ve been able to do in China. 

I think this could be a good approach for the company: providing a complete solution, rather than assuming the educators will be able to piece together solutions from multiple vendors. But that said, they will have significant competition for the Western education market, as there are numerous players seeking the same.

Via ESUN Display and eSUN Industrial