The newest 3D printer cargo figures from CONTEXT paint an image of a difficult final 12 months for the additive manufacturing (AM) trade.
Machines throughout each worth class skilled a downturn in gross sales within the fourth quarter of 2024 with gross sales of business machines on the prime finish (these priced above $100,000) down by -6% and entry-level machines (priced beneath $2,500), which had beforehand seen ‘explosive progress’, down -10%.
“2024 was a tricky 12 months throughout the globe for a lot of 3D printer system distributors, marked by macroeconomic pressures and a shifting aggressive panorama,” mentioned Chris Connery, VP of world evaluation at CONTEXT. “However beneath the floor, there’s a transparent sense of continued robust bottled-up demand that might reshape the trade in 2025 and past.”
Whereas the trade had beforehand anticipated a rebound over the subsequent 12 months, the report factors to excessive inflation and rates of interest, layoffs, M&A exercise and tariff disputes as causes for the downturn in gross sales however famous that international onshoring initiatives may result in a brand new surge in demand, as and when rates of interest drop.
For the entire of 2024, solely the entry-level phase, pushed by the recognition of manufacturers resembling Bambu Lab and Creality, noticed a rise in shipments, up by 26% on 2023. This improve is believed to have positioned a knock-on impact on the subsequent worth class of machines as skilled ($2,500–$20,000) printers have been down -15% on the earlier 12 months, whereas midrange ($20,000–$100,000) printer shipments decreased by −11%, and industrial programs have been −17% down in comparison with 2023.
Key takeaways at a look:
Industrial class
- Vat photopolymerisation programs skilled 23% YoY progress.
- Shipments of polymer programs in China have been 53% larger than in This autumn 2023, largely because of UnionTech.
- Unit shipments dropped −14% YoY in North America.
- Shipments for all classes of business polymer machines have been down for the 12 months: vat picture −30%, PBF −6%, materials extrusion −16% and materials jetting −10%.
- For the 12 months total, all prime 5 distributors within the metals industrial machine class have been Chinese language OEMs, with Brilliant Laser Applied sciences popping out on prime in This autumn.
- Nonetheless, This autumn 2024 was equally weak for Western and Chinese language producers with shipments of steel PBF programs down −22% and −20%, respectively.
- DED noticed a lift, with a 15% rise in unit shipments – principally because of Meltio.
- PBF programs made up 71% of all industrial steel printers shipped in This autumn 2024 however have been down −20% YoY.
- When it comes to income, Western distributors carried out higher, with Nikon SLM Options taking the the worldwide prime spot with the best revenues from industrial steel PBF.
- The one distributors delivery extra industrial steel printers in 2024 than in 2023 have been Meltio, ZRapid Tech, Eplus3D and (marginally) TRUMPF.
- The pattern for large-format multi-laser programs bore fruit with robust income progress of 29% for Nikon SLM Options and 40% Eplus3D.
Midrange programs
- Midrange printer shipments dropped −18% YoY in whole throughout This autumn 2024.
- Materials jetting noticed a 25% improve in gross sales together with a 100% YoY progress for Flashforge’s wax-based materials jetting resolution aimed on the jewelry market, which catapulted the expertise to the highest spot.
- Eight of the highest 10 distributors shipped fewer printers in 2024 than in 2023.
- Flashforge and ZRapid Tech noticed full-year cargo progress of +123% and +11%, respectively.
- China was the highest area for midrange printers in 2024.
Skilled programs
- Full-year shipments have been down −37% YoY as gross sales from decrease price distributors impacted this larger worth class.
- In This autumn, total shipments have been down −11% on This autumn 2023.
- Nonetheless, shipments of fabric extrusion printers have been down −40% whereas vat picture printers, led by a shift to MSLA processes, have been up 18%.
- In This autumn 2024, the market cut up was 67% vat photopolymer and 33% extrusion.
- Formlabs shipped 29% extra machines in 2024 than in 2023.
Entry-level programs
- Shipments for the complete 12 months rose 26% over 2023.
- Nonetheless, progress got here from the primary half of 2024 with This autumn seeing -10% fewer gross sales than This autumn 2023.
- Regardless of a −25% YoY drop, Creality was the chief with a 40% share of the market, with Bambu Lab following at 20% with a quarterly rise of 76%. Flashforge noticed shipments rise 77%.
- Of all Entry-level 3D printers offered in 2024, 96% got here from Chinese language distributors.
- Some minor gamers shifted manufacturing to the US (the most important end-market for this price-class), in anticipation of tariffs, however the economics round wholesale shifts in manufacturing have been deemed not-yet-tenable in 2024.
