There are two massive corporations that currently dominate the 3D printing market. One is 3D Systems, whom most have heard of, and the other similarly sized corporation is Stratasys, who recently merged with Objet. As of today Stratasys does not manufacture a personal 3D printer designed for consumer use, whereas 3D Systems offers several. Why is this so? Why doesn’t Stratasys make one, too? This is one question constantly posed at the company. We think there are four reasons why they won’t enter the personal 3D printer market:
- Existing clients. The folks Stratasys sells to are generally professionals in various disciplines. They are not consumers. While engineers and architects might also be consumers and know something about Stratasys, other consumers have little knowledge of Stratasys.
- Process available more cheaply. Stratasys’s secret sauce is the ability to extrude plastic in a process patented by them as Fused Deposition Modeling, or FDM. It’s our understanding that this patent has expired and now we see the same process emerging in many small companies providing personal 3D printers to consumers at very low costs.
- Not in strategy. Stratasys’s strategy is to address the needs of manufacturers by providing equipment capable of producing production-ready parts. This is very far from the consumer space.
- Distracted by Objet. They’ve just merged with Objet in the biggest corporate maneuver in 3D printing history. We think they’ll be quite busy working that out instead of pursuing entirely new product lines.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of other terrific choices for personal 3D printers.
by the way, Bentley and Skoda belong to the same company (Volkswagen) . and VW won`t let make Bentley city cars…with the Merger there are just 2 company left in the market object and 3d systems
by the way, Bentley and Skoda belong to the same company (Volkswagen) . and VW won`t let make Bentley city cars…with the Merger there are just 2 company left in the market object and 3d systems
Why don't Bentley make city cars, why don't Skoda make sports tourers or Harrods sell shell suits. Horses for courses.
Silly article
Why don't Bentley make city cars, why don't Skoda make sports tourers or Harrods sell shell suits. Horses for courses.
Silly article
Great post guys.
I think you're on the money, the merger with Objet to me seemed like a patent, talent and user base acquisition. They want Strat to remain as the medium to high end B2B vendor with Objet filling the rapid prototype/desktop printer market.
Dizi's also got some good points, right now Objets desktop offering is way too expensive for true consumer use both in terms of printer price and the cartridges (which are about 100 times more expensive on a £/cm^3 comparison to ABS filament). The big question is Objet going to creating a more appealing offer to home consumers? I think probably not, Architects and Product Desginer's are happy to pay the (quite frankly very expensive) price for their rapid prototyping products, why rock the boat?
I think we'll see some true market disruption from either out of market players wanting to break into the market (HP offering their own product anyone?) or the smaller players (makertbot etc.) being able to iterate and improve their products faster than the big players can come to market.
Great post guys.
I think you're on the money, the merger with Objet to me seemed like a patent, talent and user base acquisition. They want Strat to remain as the medium to high end B2B vendor with Objet filling the rapid prototype/desktop printer market.
Dizi's also got some good points, right now Objets desktop offering is way too expensive for true consumer use both in terms of printer price and the cartridges (which are about 100 times more expensive on a £/cm^3 comparison to ABS filament). The big question is Objet going to creating a more appealing offer to home consumers? I think probably not, Architects and Product Desginer's are happy to pay the (quite frankly very expensive) price for their rapid prototyping products, why rock the boat?
I think we'll see some true market disruption from either out of market players wanting to break into the market (HP offering their own product anyone?) or the smaller players (makertbot etc.) being able to iterate and improve their products faster than the big players can come to market.
I'm hoping that's not the case.. Using Objet technology is THE ideal way to mass market a home 3d printer.
A small foot print desktop 3D printer with replaceable cartridges.
Consumable cartridges with different materials – the HP model all over again this time for 3D Printing not 2D.
Yet sadly i must admit as long as Objet patents aren't challenged by a new technology a Polyjet home 3D printer is going to be on hold for some years.. as those patents expire in 2023…
My 2c.
I'm hoping that's not the case.. Using Objet technology is THE ideal way to mass market a home 3d printer.
A small foot print desktop 3D printer with replaceable cartridges.
Consumable cartridges with different materials – the HP model all over again this time for 3D Printing not 2D.
Yet sadly i must admit as long as Objet patents aren't challenged by a new technology a Polyjet home 3D printer is going to be on hold for some years.. as those patents expire in 2023…
My 2c.