According to The China Post, Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) and The Aurora Group (震旦集團) yesterday inked an agreement making Aurora the sole distributor for the Stratasys line of 3D printers in the vast Chinese market.
Since its entry into China in 1993, Aurora, an electronics and office supplies retail giant, has established itself in over 500 locations in the Chinese market, in addition to employing a full force of product service and sales personnel. The company stated that it was chosen by Stratasys to act as its sole distributor in China due to its considerable retail coverage.
Aurora is poised to distribute Stratasys’s Idea line of 3D printers, consisting of the entry-level Mojo, and the larger uPrint SE and uPrint SE Plus variants. The Idea line of 3D printers currently ranges from US$10,000 to US$20,000 in the U.S. market.
This news has not been released by Stratasys Ltd. yet, but has been seen in other sources out of China, including The China National News.
Gaining a retail giant's access to a market of 1,344,130,000 people (2012 census), with a growing middle class eager to experiment with 3D printing should help boost revenues at Stratasys going forward.
Disclosure: I am long shares of Stratasys (SSYS)