Industry analysts have painted a pleasing picture of the first three quarters of last year, and predict similar for 2018.
A new report from Context has shown that the 3D printer market saw global unit volume growth compared to 2016, in both the Industrial/Professional and the Personal/Desktop sectors.
In the latter, 45 percent more printers were shipped between Q1 and Q3, compared to the year before, whilst in the Industrial/Professional market, unit volume grew by 2 percent, putting it on track to post year-on-year growth for the first time in three years.
Q3 of 2017 was especially strong for the Industrial/Professional sector, with a rise of 22 percent in printers shipped compared to the same quarter in 2016. 84 percent of those shipped were polymer printers, with their metal equivalents accounting for 11 percent of the total. In Q3 for the Personal/Desktop segment, meanwhile, unit shipments rose by 44 percent, reaching just shy of 115,000 units.
Context forecasts that all sectors seem “poised for growth” in 2018, and says that a rebound for the Industrial sector will be “of particular focus for many.” It also predicts companies, including HP, will continue pushing polymer printing into the mainstream of manufacturing, and that overall there is “the prospect of a strong market in 2018.”
