Ubiquitous business magazine BusinessWeek recently wrote an overview of the 3D printing space. While there will be little news to Fabbaloo readers, it’s interesting that as time passes this technology is appearing increasingly frequent in the major media. BusinessWeek’s audience includes most of the major corporate executives, and we wonder what plans may be hatched as they learn of this new tech.
So we lied. There were a few interesting tidbits in the article:
- They described how US Army surgeons use 3D printing to replicate complex surgical situations. The surgeons then practice on the model and “get the feeling that they’ve been there before”.
- Surgeons are also using 3D printing to produce masks for use in reconstructive surgery.
- They list the major economy 3D printers available today: ZCorp 450 (USD$40K) and the ZCorp 310 (USD$20K). Two others are under development from 3D Systems (USD$10K) and Desktop Factory (USD$5K).
- Pete Basiliere of Gartner predicts that while only 3,651 3D printers were sold in 2007, some 300,000 printers may be sold during 2011.
- Cathy Lewis of Desktop Factory forecasts: “One day you might be able to print out biomaterial at home, like a specially engineered bandage for your son or daughter’s cut”.
Don’t forget to listen to BusinessWeek’s related podcast on 3D printing technology.
Via BusinessWeek
Hi Fabb: Iām the marketing manager for Dimension 3D Printers, and I thought Iād offer some context. As you probably know, Dimension is a business unit of Stratasys, and we led the 3D printer market in 2007. In 2008, Stratasys set new records in revenues and earnings for both the first and second quarters. So while itās unfortunate the Business Week writer neglected to mention us, it wonāt change the strategy that made us successful: providing CAD users with fast, office-friendly, affordable systems for building functional 3D models.
That’s an interesting observation, but I don’t think Stratasys is doomed. There always will be a higher-end market that requires high-end equipment. And besides, who knows what Stratasys is cooking up in their labs? Stay tuned!
Why do you suppose Stratasys is not mentioned in this article? It appears to me the stratasys is being pushed out of the 3d printing space- perhaps their machines are not fast, flexible or cheap enough to compete anymore.