GE announced a branding change for their latest 3D printing acquisition Arcam, but that’s only the start.
Last year GE surprisingly acquired not just one, but two 3D metal printing companies – and almost had a third as well. One of them was Arcam.
The announcement this week was a branding change. This is a marketing move to align the public perception of Arcam with GE’s intentions. Two key elements comprise this announcement: a single unify mark to link the three Arcam business operations (equipment, powder production and contract printing) together, and the addition of a “Part of the GE family” component to the logos.
The truth is that a branding change alters little for end users of the equipment. But I believe this is only but the start for Arcam, as over coming months we will see changes under the new branding. They are changing the labels on the box, but the box remains the same, for now.
Arcam was officially acquired by GE first among the recent acquisitions. Following them is Concept Laser, whom we should expect to see a similar branding announcement in likely weeks.
Arcam also released their quarterly results for 17Q1, and it appears they’ve had some challenges. While their revenue increased by over 20% over the previous year, their operating income dropped by about 20% and net income went negative. They revealed they’ve accepted orders for 8 units in the quarter, two more than the previous year’s first quarter, while delivering 15 systems.
What this suggests is that they were spending more to produce the same equipment, resulting in the downturn.
Certainly this would be of some concern to GE, however, I suspect they are taking a much longer view of things. Arcam is going to be a key piece in GE’s massive 3D metal printing strategy in coming years and any extra costs today are a minor inconvenience to achieve their long term goals.
Via Arcam (PDF)
