Led by market researcher Jonathan Shaffer, the revised projection is a startling 357% increase from Credit Suisse’s $175M market estimate late last year. Driving that claim is the bank’s opinion that “prosummer” acquisition of the technology is sure to rise.
“We think eventually there could be near 100% penetration amongst engineers as it becomes a common element of the engineer's toolkit ... The number of registered architects in the US [now stands at 222,500]. We think this represents another potential growth driver, although we acknowledge the computer design proficiency amongst architects is likely lower than among recent engineering graduates ... We think children under 18 will be a primary driver of adoption; they are more likely to have heightened computer proficiency, and technological awareness is high in this age group.”
While Suisse’s wild expectation that nearly 100% of engineers would use, or have access to, a 3D printer might be a bit of an overstatement, though it’s safe to say that the technology is certainly having a dramatic effect on product designers. What’s more, 3D printing is allowing an entire class of amateur inventors and tinkerers to create products that until now would have been economically impossible.
Beyond its high-level analysis of 3D printing the report also provides insight into how the bank believes some of the industry’s heavy hitters will fair in the short run. According to Shaffer, Stratasys’ acquisition of Makerbot has pushed the company from “neutral” to “outperforming” status while its competitor 3D Systems has flipped the script falling from outperform to neutral.
Images Courtesy of Credit Suisse