Graphic from Deloitte on the 3D printing hype
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Accounting firm predicts ‘plateau of productivity’ in 3D printing for 2019
The word 3D printing hype has already been used often enough, and perhaps a bit overused at times. However, a current forecast by the auditing company Deloitte gives some cause for concern in this regard. According to this forecast, the turnover made by large public companies with 3D printing will grow by €2.1 billion this year. In 2020, this value could even rise again to over €2.4 billion. This value includes enterprise 3D printers, materials and services.
Why now?
After a huge increase in the sales in 3D printing, sales growth stagnated in 2015 and 2016. However, with the significant increase in metal printing materials, a trend reversal was already evident in 2017. Metal 3D printing is proving to be the more lucrative market. This development can be seen above all in the fact that the market share for metal among 3D printing materials increased from 28% to 36% in the period 2017 to 2018. In the same period, the proportion of plastic fell from 88% to 65%. In view of this development, it is likely that metals will overtake plastics in 3D printing as early as 2020 or 2021.
At the same time print speed the 3D printer has increased significantly. It can be roughly assumed that the 3D printers on the market in 2019 will print twice as fast on average as comparable 3D printers from 2014.
Also the size of the installation spaces and thus the possible 3D models has increased significantly. A few years ago, for example, a commercially available high-end metal printer could only build objects up to 10 x 10 x 10 cm (or one cubic liter), but in 2019 some devices will already be able to produce models of up to 30 x 30 x 30 cm (or 9 cubic liters) possible.
The next developments
In any case, it is foreseeable that 3D printing will prevail primarily in areas in which this technology is particularly competitive and at the same time meets the needs.
An example of this are bionic prostheses for children. On the one hand, these are technically difficult to implement using conventional methods. On the other hand, the fact that children grow very quickly also means that such prostheses are not so easy to produce economically. 3D printing technology offers the ideal solution for both problems. The makers of the Deloitte study therefore see this as a typical example of an area in which 3D printing could become a market leader.
Read more about current trends in 3D printing in our blog.
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