An analyst report paints a dismal picture for 3D printing in 24Q3.
A report by CONTEXT’s Chris Connery charts sales of 3D printing systems for a range of different machine categories during that quarter.
On the industrial side, CONTEXT reports a massive 24% drop in sales, continuing a trend that’s been ongoing for the past twelve months. They report 37% drops in China, while Europe fell 13% and the US dropped 25%. The majority of the damage was in the polymer segment, with the metal segment dropping not quite as much.
In the midrange segment, drops all around were also seen. Connery notes:
“Stratasys kept hold of its market-share lead but saw weak sales of some lines, especially Material Extrusion printers. 3D Systems is getting smaller each quarter and dropped to sixth place in this price class as it continues to struggle.”
The professional segment did reasonably well, as compared to the other segments, falling only one percent in the quarter. However, sales in this segment have been down more in prior quarters. Connery believes much of the success is due to high interest in Formlabs’ new Form 4 platform. This is not surprising, it is quite an amazing 3D printer, as we recently reviewed that system.
The entry-level segment, desktop 3D printers, was where the growth occurred, rising a huge 28% year over year. Connery reports that sales slowed a bit for Creality, while Bambu Lab and Flashforge made gains.
Overall, Connery expects 2024 to have around 12% fewer 3D printers shipped than in 2023, mostly due to capital expenditure constraints from high interest rates.
CONTEXT believes that 2026 will be the year when things truly recover. Connery said:
“To put this in context, note that the market bounced back strongly coming out of Covid as vendors delivered against pent-up demand: between 2020 and 2021, Industrial 3D printer shipments were up 30% and those of Midrange systems increased by 26%. However, the impact of a change in US government is yet to be determined: while the new administration is generally focused on accelerating business potential, sticky inflation and unknown import restrictions are tempering optimism.”
We can’t know the future, but it seems we may be near the bottom of the curve here.
Via CONTEXT
