The latest report from CONTEXT has revealed a challenging picture for 3D printing hardware vendors in the third quarter of 2023 as shipments of industrial 3D printers struggled across the globe.
The market intelligence company, which tracks 3D printer shipments from entry-level to industrial systems, says vendors struggled as key markets faced inflation and high interest rates. Instead, entry-level (sub-$2,500) 3D printers dominated the market with 9% growth in shipments, and what CONTEXT describes as the ‘cannibalisation’ of sales from more expensive, professional desktop printers.
Mergers, acquisitions, and stock market news continued to dominate the additive manufacturing space in 2023, but publicly traded 3D printing companies were only responsible for 33% of recent global system revenues. Such public companies, like Stratasys, 3D Systems, and Velo3D, which focus primarily on industrial-class systems, claimed just 51% of machine sales in Q3 2023 revenues within this price class.
“Many public 3D printing firms in the West began shifting their attention from market growth to profitability and have recently been distracted by failed mergers and layoffs”, said Chris Connery, global VP of analysis at CONTEXT. “Although these woes were reflected in the wider global market as well, there were pockets of opportunity and glimpses of strength in some 3D printer segments, especially in the often-overlooked Entry-level portion of the market.”
Global shipments of $100K+ 3D printers dropped −11% year on year (YoY) in Q3 2023 but 2023 global revenues from this class were up 2% on the previous year. Within that, industrial polymer printer shipments dropped −17%, while industrial metal printer shipments were down −3%, thanks to a -9% drop in powder bed fusion shipments. Even in China, which continues to be the largest market for this price class, saw a −16% drop against the previous year, largely due to weak polymer printer shipments, primarily vat photopolymerisation printers. In fact, if this machine type was excluded from figures, industrial polymer printer shipments would be up 2% from a year ago.
The report also notes that the Covid pandemic is still having an impact on figures, as shown with Chinese manufacturer UnionTech which saw shipments drop by -28% YoY. The drop is a result of comparison to a period where UnionTech was in a state of ‘accelerated recovery’ following local lockdown measures in Q1/Q2 2022.
Year on year shipments dropped for industrial metal printer shipments in China (−8%) and North America (−6%). However, inflationary price increases and trend for larger build-volume, multi-laser powder bed fusion systems led to 8% higher revenues than in Q3 2022. Despite falling figures, the Direct Energy Deposition (DED) segment saw a boost from companies likes Meltio and SPEE3D, while EOS, like last year, saw growth in shipments of polymer PBF systems, as did Stratasys with its polymer systems.
“A challenging 2023 has set the stage for a rebound and 3D printer shipments look to accelerate in the years to come”, added Chris Connery. “Currently it appears that global interest rates will remain elevated through at least the first half of 2024, however which could mean Industrial system shipments remain stagnant in the near term. Fears of regional recessions have largely abated and the fundamental value of additive manufacturing is well recognised across industries, clearing the way toward accelerated growth once the once the cost of capital lowers in the second half of the year and on into 2025.”
Shipments of mid-range printers also fell -5% YoY, largely propped up by shipments of lower-cost PBF systems from the likes of Formlabs, and domestic shipments in China from UnionTech. Without those companies, this category would have seen a 17% drop with shipments down −17% for Stratasys, −28% for 3D Systems and −33% Markforged.
The biggest drop, however, was felt by the professional price class, which saw shipments fall for the sixth consecutive quarter by -41% compared to the previous year. Every professional vendor saw double-digit YoY decline in shipments, except for Nexa3D, owed to shipments of its lower-end XiP 3D printer range. It paints a very different picture to 2020/2021 where professional desktop systems saw a boost in sales thanks to work from home scenarios. The report suggests that users are generally dismissing these more expensive desktop offerings in favour of cheaper, hobbyist machines from the likes of market leader Creality and newcomer Bambu Lab, which users found could provide the same or “good enough” capabilities.
“Although the market may appear to have settled after the very public failed mergers of 2023, many companies have openly stated that they are more privately investigating strategic alternatives, meaning that sales, mergers, acquisitions and divestures may yet lie ahead,” noted Connery. “An additional area ripe for investment is the Entry-level category as more and more companies have come to recognise this recently overlooked category.”
