Recently we completed our annual reader survey, and we found some interesting results.
We always perform a survey to determine more about you, our valued readers, and to find out what you’re thinking about the industry.
About half of you are professionals using 3D printing for business use. The other half uses 3D printers for DIY projects, with about a quarter being consumers interested in 3D printing.
A whopping 62% of readers have been using their 3D printers for over five years. That’s a lot of very experienced readers.
A slightly higher percentage of readers own their own 3D printer, 88% this year, versus 85% last year. I presume the lower costs and higher speed device availability are helping that ratio rise. Respondents who “do not 3D print” dropped to a record two percent.
While virtually everyone who responded 3D prints in polymers, a surprising 40% print in metal, and ten percent perform bioprinting. Amazingly, six percent claim to be 3D printing food. That has been a very consistent amount in all the years we’ve done a survey.
Purchasing Factors Changing
The most interesting part of the survey looked at the critical purchasing factors. We wanted to know what is most important for buyers.
Similar to last year, readers believe print quality is by far the most important factor. The second most important factor was the ability to use many different materials. This actually rose seven percent over last year’s results.
What’s interesting is that these two factors top print speed and reliability, two long standing issues with the technology. Perhaps these are being solved with better and faster hardware?
The most boosted purchasing factor over 2023 was after-sales service quality. It seems that people are now more sensitive to fix-it service offered by manufacturers. This is perhaps one reason for the three most well-known parties to be at their top spots.
Popular 3D Printer Brands
The most well-known brands continue to be Prusa, Anycubic and Creality, as one would expect. Quite a number of brands received very low scores, suggesting that the market might be focusing on the larger players at this time.
Which are the most growing brands? By far, Bambu Lab increased the most, with their unfamiliarity rating decreasing by 35%. Two other brands that saw significant increases in recognition were Voron and Elegoo.
These brands are frequently seen on social media, so this makes sense.
I’m interested to see how this all shifts during 2024.
