The Importance of Personal 3D Printers To The Growth of 3D Printing

Last week, Photizo Group released its official market sizing and forecast for the low-cost 3D printing market, also commonly referred to as the “personal” 3D printing market.
Some may be surprised to see a lucrative market opportunity emerging at such a quick pace from a segment that has yet to really figure out what it is providing and who will want to buy it. The paradox essentially revolves around who is the target customer currently and who that customer will be in the future. This is where the name “personal” 3D printing was born.
In the beginning of low-cost 3D printing, the users were regular people. Okay, maybe not too “regular,” but they were people who bought, built, or otherwise used a 3D printer in their home workshops for a variety of projects that were personal and unique to their own needs. Hence the term, personal 3D printer.
Today, we’re still seeing massive growth in the low-cost 3D printer market, to the tune of $1.79 billion by 2018. We estimate that several million sub-$5,000 3D printers will be sold over the next five years. But who is going to buy those printers? Are there millions of personal users out there who are going to be 3D printing in their homes in the next five years?
While the concept of widespread 3D printing in the home is possible, it’s not probable. But don’t go shouting anything from the rooftops just yet—there will still be growth in 3D printing from “personal” users. Just probably not as much as other popular technological revolutions of the past decade, like tablets and smart phones.
3D printers create things. Low-cost 3D printers can create more and more interesting things with each passing month (advances in print materials at the desktop level are actually astounding, although flying somewhat under the radar). However, the process of creation is an art, even when it comes to manufacturing. It requires a particular set of skills, patience, and dedication that not every average consumer that owns a PC or a tablet will have or want to learn.
We believe that adoption of 3D printers by home users and consumers will be moderate. Creatively inclined consumer groups like artists, entrepreneurs, designers, and craft workers will all be relatively quick to adopt desktop printers to use for their own projects, home businesses, and personal uses. But the biggest driver of low-cost 3D printer adoption in the future will be business use.
Surprisingly, there are already a significant amount of enterprise-level businesses purchasing desktop and low-cost 3D printers, mostly for the purposes of experimentation in product design (for now). Eventually, the trickle down effect should take place, and smaller and smaller businesses will begin to see the benefits of having an in-house 3D printer or two—and they’ll be able to afford them. Once these businesses get a taste for the creativity that a small, cheap 3D printer can foster, it will be on to bigger and better printers.
This is why it’s foolish to completely separate the markets for “cheap” desktop 3D printers and high-end additive manufacturing systems. Adoption of high-end systems is going to drive adoption of low-end systems as businesses that have used big expensive equipment for decades want to see what these cheaper counterparts can do.
As that trend spreads, the reverse will begin to happen, as total newcomers to 3D printing in the business will first adopt at the low end. Some adopters will fall off the wagon, unable to match their competencies with the concept of additive fabrication. But many will want to move up the chain of capability in additive fabrication and end up buying more powerful printers.
This business adoption cycle, combined with growing interest from select consumer groups, is the one-two punch behind $5.1 billion in revenue that Photizo forecasts will be generated in low-cost 3D printing over the next several years. It’s going to be a fun ride.
For the complete data-driven analysis and forecast of the personal 3D printing market check out the Consumer & Desktop 3D Printer Market Size, Shares, and Forecast, and get the insights needed to navigate this growth market with unparalleled knowledge, influencing smarter, higher ROI business decisions.