I’m reading a Korean business news story on 3D printing in that country.
The news does not seem particularly positive, it seems. The report by Lee Hojoon included a visit to Carima, one of the more notable companies in the 3D print space based in South Korea.
During the visit, Carmica VP Lee Kwang-Min said:
“Our company is unable to expand its spirit due to the overflowing number of Chinese products.”
The report also wrote:
“The industry analyzes that this is because Chinese products are superior to domestic products in terms of price and quality. According to the industry, the average price of domestic products is close to 10 million won (US$6700), while Chinese products are as cheap as 2 million won (US$1350). In addition, China is excellent in quality by supporting the government-led budget, and once 3D printers are developed, the government purchases them in large quantities and supplies them to companies or institutions, so it has a more favorable environment for industrial development.”
Another Korean 3D printer manufacturer is Sindoh, which branched into 3D printing about ten years ago. They introduced a number of fascinating machines over the years, including the first desktop unit that had a proper touchscreen interface.
I hadn’t heard from the company for several years, and realized they also seemed to have disappeared from recent tech shows I’ve attended. I checked their site to see what’s new.
There was nothing new.
I then recalled that Sindoh had announced a big change in direction, and one that changed their branding for 3D printers to “FabWeaver”. While there was no evidence of that brand at the main Sindoh site, the FabWeaver.com site seems to be abandoned and the domain is for sale. It looks like it shut down some time last year.
Evidently Sindoh must have realized they would be unable to compete against the wave of Chinese equipment coming from multiple well-funded manufacturers.
It appears that the challenges posed by Chinese 3D printer manufacturers are not solely in the West, as they are clearly also affecting Korean 3D printer manufacturers. The Maeil story seems quite negative on the outlook for Korean 3D printer manufacturers.
Korea is one country, but there are many others where 3D printers are manufactured, including India, and places in South America. It’s quite likely all of these operations will also be affected by the success of the Chinese manufacturers.
This picture is unlikely to change in the next few years, as multiple Chinese 3D printer manufacturers have recently partnered with huge Chinese-based tech funds and megacorps. These investments could provide the resources necessary to completely overtake lesser manufacturers in other countries, just as appears to be happening in Korea.
