3d Printing Markets: Hope, Hype And Strategies

3D printing, actually a technology with a fairly long history, is suddenly being touted as a dramatic new market opportunity.  President Obama mentioned 3D printing in his State of the Union speech as a way to revitalize the US manufacturing sector.  Meanwhile, industry journalists insist that the “Maker” movement is the next Home Brew Computer Club, ready and primed to set off a revolution that will be the equivalent of the PC revolution of the 1980s.

While 3D printing insiders cannot help but be encouraged by such notoriety, they are also well aware that at present, 3D printing is technology whose revenues come in large part from the important, but niche-like rapid prototyping sector and that the Makers and Home Brewers have more differences than similarities.

In this confusing, hype-filled atmosphere, SmarTech Markets Publishing believes this report pinpoints where the real opportunities are to be found.  In particular, the reader of this report will find an application-by-application assessment of the opportunities for 3D printing including comprehensive and granular ten-year forecasts of hardware, software and services.

The report also contains detailed profiles of leading firms to watch in the 3D printing space with SmarTech’s assessment of their strategies and business models.  The report also analyzes where there are gaps in the market that could be filled by start-ups and how established “rust belt” manufacturers are likely to react to the rise of 3D Printing.  The objective of this report is to provide essential input to senior executives making marketing, business development and investment decisions in the rapidly evolving 3D printing business:

3D printer and scanner firms will better understand which applications represent true opportunities and which are just hype.  Furthermore, where this report identifies new sources of business revenue it also provides guidance on market evolution and timing

CAD firms, software companies and service bureau will gain insight into where they can seek new addressable markets in the 3D printing space and how they should develop their business models over next decade

Potential end users of 3D printing throughout industry will increase their knowledge of where 3D printing is expected to advance revolutionary change and where it is expected to be merely a useful tool. In addition, they will come to understand the capabilities of state-of-the-art 3D printing and how those capabilities will increase over the coming decade.

This report provides a roadmap for 3D printing technology that will be invaluable to product managers of all kinds and its scope extends to all serious applications and end user sectors that have been proposed for 3D printing to date.