3D Printing is only STARTING to gain steam!

Today’s news that Objet and Stratasys have merged to form one of the word’s largest 3D printing company came to me as a complete shock to be honest – I really didn’t see that coming at all and I’m sure not alone! 3D Systems (who I visited a few weeks back) itself has been on a acquisition binge for quite a while with both big (Z Corporation) and small (My Robot Nation).

3D printing is about to explode into the marketplace! (consumer wise)

3D printing is like general manufacturing, the larger you are, the more technologies and patent portfolios you control, the larger piece of the MASSIVE pie you will control in the coming years. Each major player is building-up their war chests, doubling-up their fortresses and digging moats at a frenetic pace. Although there are new technologies, methods and certainly some bargaining going on within the 3D printing world… the one with the biggest influence in the industry will be equivalent to Intel in the CPU space – AMD is there but struggling which Intel is racking in the gold!

If you think this is impressive, this is nothing compared to the massive consolidation that we are about to witness over the coming years… there are so many different technologies that achieve “3D Printing” that depending on your application, there is one that is best suited for your needs. From ABS 3D printers such as the 3D Systems Cube to Chocolate Additive Layer Manufacturing (ChocALM) from Choc Edge. It’s going to be an amazing ride!

… and it’s not just hardware!

3D printing software is also experiencing a slew of acquisitions as the market begins to develop, the most recent being Geomagic taking-in Sensable… and I’m willing to bed Matterport isn’t that far off from being acquired as well, the questions isn’t of when, but by who! Even Autodesk is in the software fold with their Autodesk 123D which is a partnership with Ponoko (they do the 3D printing for orders they received through Autodesk’s software)!

The Bottom Line

If you don’t know about 3D printing YET… rest assured, you will not be able to live without it in a few years time!