3D Systems Added to S&P SmallCap 600 Index

Standard and Poors have added 3D Systems to their SmallCap 600 index. The index is a basket of (surprise) 600 companies whose aggregated stock prices offer insight into medium-sized company performance. 3D Systems was able to be added after one of the existing companies, Taleo, was acquired by Oracle (making it definitely not a Small Cap instrument). 

 

We think this is an important development because of two things: first, it confirms that 3D Systems, a company dedicated to 3D printing, is large enough to be considered for this influential list. Secondly, it also means the 3D printing industry is seen as a valid and important concept in business. Those can only be good for all 3D printing companies. 

 

Via S&P

3D Systems Picks Up Robots, And More

Industry giant 3D Systems has made another acquisition, and this one appears to be a little different than previous purchases. They've acquired specialty 3D print service MyRobotNation, whom we've written about in the past. MyRobotNation's specialty is, well, robots. Personalized robots. 

 

The service provides users with a very easy to use (and fun) interface to quickly design your own robot. Press the final button and they produce your custom 3D printed robot and it shows up in your mailbox shortly thereafter. 

 

The service was clearly a success, as they've now attracted the attention - and pocketbook - of 3D Systems. 

 

How is this acquisition different? 3D Systems didn't just buy them for the robots. They bought their expertise in producing a high-quality end-user design experience. It's a perfect addition to the company's Cubify online repository of 3D models. Now (theoretically) some Cubify models could be customized in a manner similar to MyRobotNation, making Cubify much more interesting. 

 

We'll be watching for changes inevitably coming in Cubify that incorporate the new approach. 

 

Via 3D Systems (Hat tip to Franky)

The Cube on CNN

Big media coverage for 3D Systems this week: 3D Systems CEO Abe Reichental appeared on CNN to demonstrated their new USD$1300 "Cube" personal 3D printer. Reichental explained the basics of 3D printing to the audience and said that although 3D printing has been around for decades for industrial applications, 3D Systems is now "democratizing" the technology by bringing it into the home, which may eventually lead to increased home manufacturing instead of offshore manufacturing. 

 

Reichental also produced a small model of CNN host Randi Kaye's head, produced in "less than an hour" in full color using an iPhone app and one of their ZCorp color 3D printers. That part, color 3D printing, isn't being brought into the home. Not yet, anyway.

 

Reichental described 3D Systems' new "Cube Odyssey", where they'll be traveling to 25 cities across the USA to demonstrate the Cube personal 3D printer and show off examples of 3D printed objects. This should be a terrific opportunity for those interested in 3D printing but have never seen one up close. Check the link below for a full list of cities on the Odyssey schedule. 

 

Via CNN Video and Cubify

3D Systems' 2011 Financial Results

3D Printing industry leader 3D Systems recently announced their year-end financial results for 2011. We wondered how the incorporation of their many newly acquired companies affected their results. 

 

Overall it seems that the acquisitions have assisted 3D Systems in raising their results. Here's the highlights as we saw them: 

 

• Full year revenue increased 44% over 2010
• The number of printer units increased much more, some 190%. Why hasn't the revenue gone up similarly? We think because they are selling many more lower-cost personal 3D printer units
• Total income of USD$35.4 million for 2011. This is massively larger than all of the personal 3D printer startups we've seen, indicating the difficulty of competing against 3D Systems
• Some "drag" occurred during 4Q11 from corporate acquisition costs
• Amazingly, some USD$3.6M was spent developing the Cubify.com initiative

 

Huge results that can only grow this year as their acquisition continue to be consolidated and the market expands. 

 

Via 3D Systems

3D Systems Deploys Print3D

Industry giant 3D Systems acquired software plugin maker Print3D in April last year and this week saw 3D Systems announce the technical outcome of that acquisition: Print3D is now released as a free plugin for major 3D modeling tools for direct integration with 3D Systems' print services. 

Instead of exporting your 3D model and then importing it into their 3D print services, you can now link directly from within the 3D modeling software. This means you can significantly shorten your workflow because the plugin will provide instant price quotes, permitting you to adapt your model immediately. 

The software plugin is available today for the following major 3D modeling tools: Pro/Engineer, SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor and Alibre Design. We suspect they'll be adding more to the list in the future. 

Via 3D Systems and Print3D (Hat tip to James)

3D Printing Buzz Increases

With the close of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show it seems like a good time to check the buzz level of 3D printing, which we suspect is higher than its ever been. By using Google Trends, a free tool that shows the frequency of search terms used on the omnipresent search engine, we can see whether people are becoming more interested in the topic. 

 

The search we made includes keywords "3D printing", "MakerBot", "3D Systems" and the new "Cubify". The results are quite clear - a massive jump in search interest. MakerBot leads in searches, but the new Cubify is off to a huge start as well. 

 

One more clue to the growing popularity of 3D printing: there's now a cartoon on a popular site related to it. CNET's weekly Low Latency comic features two guys at CES discussing a 3D printer, which looks suspiciously like a Cube. 

 

Via CNET and Google Trends

Secret Cubify Project To Be Unveiled

A fascinating press release from 3D Systems describes what appears to be a whole new product line: Cubify. Is it a 3D printer? Yes. Is it 3D modeling software? Yes. Is it an online service? Yes. Whew! Several announcements bundled into one! 

 

3D Systems is to formally announce this product in a few days at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show. We're glad to see 3D Systems taking the jump into the consumer space by appearing at this show, since a great many more people will see 3D printing and more than likely there will be major media coverage. Here's what 3D Systems says in their press release: 

 

Cubify.com combines coloring book simplicity with cloud gaming excitement to deliver a vivid 3D create-and-make experience through a fully integrated, fluid interface. With intuitive 3D apps, rich 3D printable content libraries of games, puzzles and collections, Cubify.com turns any mobile device, tablet or Kinect® into a powerful, digital canvas that unleashes creativity and brings ideas to life in 3D. Compelling content creation, capture and customization apps make it simple and fun to personalize creations and Cubify them at home on a Cube™ 3D printer or have them Cubified using our online 3D printing service. Now everyone can unleash their creativity and earn money by marketing their own 3D creations or by developing new apps for Cubify.com.

 

A short video offers some hints of the apparently new 3D printer used by Cubify, which at first glance appears somewhat similar to the Up! personal 3D printer. There are precious few details about this clearly very comprehensive service/software/product and we're anxiously awaiting more information. This move directly challenges several other industry participants' businesses, including Shapeways, Sculpteo, Autodesk, Tinkercad, Origo and many others, while strongly leveraging their giant 3D print services business. Here's what we're wondering:

 

• What are the specifications on the Cube™ 3D printer? How does it compare with other options? We presume it's assembled, but how easy is it to physically operate?
• How does the "make money with your designs" work? 
• Will the design software work effectively on all platforms, which is quite a challenge to create? 
• How well does the 3D scanning component work? Will it generate adequate models or will lots of tweaking be required?
• How will 3D print service charges compare with the alternatives?

 

We don't know the answers to those questions yet, but probably we'll find out in the next few days.

  

Via 3D Systems and YouTube (Hat tip to Martin)

3D Systems For Investors

We managed to get a peek at a 3D Systems investors presentation. This is a rather large slide deck with plenty of investor-related data as most investor presentations tend to be, but there were also lots of very interesting statistics and information. We read through the entire piece and found the interesting tidbits for Fabbaloo readers who may be following 3D Systems' transformation and expansion during the past couple of years:

 

• ~700 Employees worldwide
• ~900 Patents (!)
• Most of their revenue now originates from outside of the USA
• Six different kinds of 3D printing engines
• 90 different print materials
• Eight locations in the USA; Six in Europe; Six in Asia-Pacific
• From August 2009 to September 2011 (two years), they added 98 new resellers and 14 new service facilities
• Revenue breakdown: 41% from Services; 31% from Materials and only 28% from 3D printers
• Three divisions of printers: Personal, Professional and Production, ranging from a mere USD$1300 up to USD$950K
• Software products include content creation and digital 3D models
• 3D printer unit sales grew 273% in 2011 over 2010
• Nineteen companies acquired in the past 2 years (wait a sec, that's a lot more than we thought!)
• The Huntsman materials business acquisition brought in 25 materials and 373 patents! 

 

We knew 3D Systems was growing, but wow! There's not many major companies left for them to acquire at this point, but it appears from the above that they likely have almost all they need to grow organically from this point onwards as the market expands.