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Gartner: Consumers will buy 3D printers within 18 months

Despite a lot of hype, even I’m forced to admit that domestic grade 3D printers like Makerbot, RepRap and Ultimaker are still something a novelty. Owning one is a similar experience to buying a 1970s British sports car (trust me, I’ve done both) – it’s a labour of love and requires constant maintenance to get anything productive out of.

That’s all about to change, says Gartner’s Pete Basiliere: “In the next 18 months, we foresee consumers moving from being curious about the technology to finding reasons to justify purchases as price points, applications and functionality become more attractive.”

Basiliere’s comments come ahead of a new annual report from the firm which will be published in November. That report will predict that sales of 3D printers valued at less than $100 000 (R1M) will rise by 49% this year, 75% the year after and double by 2015. That’s what they call exponential growth, if my maths A-levels still serve me well.

Basiliere doesn’t make reference to Gartner’s famous hype curve, but for all intents and purposes this is what he’s describing. After a couple of years of heightened interest, businesses are starting to realise the value of 3D printers beyond making chess sets from Thingiverse. The revolution starts now.

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