Does that sound like a great investment opportunity to you?
How fabulous? The latest industry forecast is that the 3-D printing technology market will exceed $21 billion by 2020, up from an estimated $3 billion in 2013
http://www.startribune.com/business/291093881.html
I guess its all in how you look at the market. I think growth from 3 billion to 21 billion in seven years is pretty good.
Andy
Forecasts like this (and mine ) are worth what you paid for them.
I am uninterested in general 3DP but I think the metal additive manufacturing market will get a lot bigger. Mostly because it allows design freedom from the design restraints of subtractive manufacturing. Something that may require a younger generation of engineers to develop , just as computers did. Also because the necessary research for 5 fold or better improvement is already out of the early lab stages. This will take several years to reach mass production but the basic knowledge is already there.
At first the aerospace and medical markets, later spreading to others since complexity will be nearly as cheap as simple. A simple casting will probably remain the cheapest way to make most metal components but not suitable for high stress items.
A simple casting will probably remain the cheapest way to make most metal components but not suitable for high stress items.
Didn’t I see something recently about the XONE 3DP sand process being used to produce a Formula One engine block in a design that couldn’t be done conventionally?
Formula 1 racing - now there’s a market. 9 teams, 24 drivers, not exactly sure how many cars, or engines to be more precise, but probably something close to 50. Of those, how many were printed?
I know this is exciting, cutting-edge technology. I know it provides the capability to produce some items “better” (i.e., lighter, stronger, difficult material, etc.) than conventional manufacturing processes. I already noted some of the items earlier in this thread. I’ll go so far as to assert that 3DP provides (or will soon provide) the ability to produce certain items which are not even possible using conventional methods. But that’s not the point. Exciting technology, in and of itself does not necessarily make a good investment. Sometimes, a thoroughly mundane, boring technology might make a far superior investment.
The projected $3B to $21B growth in 7 years is - ahem - somewhat speculative. More to the point however, if you read the linked article, that’s not what it really says in any case. What is asserted is that in 2013 the 3DP market was estimated to reach $3B by 2020, but more recently that estimate has been revised upwards to $21B. So, it is not a growth projection at all, it’s a revised forecast. It is not clear as to who has provided these industry forecasts. Undoubtedly, I am positive they are expert opinion forecasts. Wouldn’t want to print inexpert opinions.
Sarcasm aside I guess this just boils down to an honest difference of inexpert opinion. My inexpert opinion is that 3DP is not a very good investment at this time. I’m sure that a winner or two will emerge. Maybe SSYS, maybe DDD, maybe XONE, maybe new players not yet public.
Whatever you decide, I hope you do well. I made a few bucks with DDD a while back. For now, I’m done with 3DP companies.
The point of the F1 story is not that it represents a market, but that it represents a capability. $20B is still a tiny percentage of all manufacturing. The F1 story is simply an illustration that there are a very large number of opportunities out there which 3DP uniquely addresses … not that it even needs to be cost competitive … which it is on short run and special requirements like titanium … but that there are many things which one simply can’t do any other way.