Jan 15, 2015 | By Simon

As more curious makers start entering into the 3D printing space, it’s easy to overlook just how complicated the many options of 3D printers and related peripherals are.  Between the expansive range of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) desktop 3D printers alone to material types and open source versus closed ecosystems, knowing where to start on the journey of 3D printing can be a daunting task for anybody.

Additionally, seasoned 3D printing ‘professionals’ are interested in seeing what is happening in their industry; what people are making, what they are making it on, where they are making and the like.   

Fortunately, 3D Hubs, a platform that facilitates transactions between 3D printer owners (Hubs) and people that want to make 3D prints, has rolled up their sleeves and used data from their community of over 10,000 printers in over 120 countries and thousands of 3D printing orders each month to formulate their January 2015 3D Printing Trend Report.   

“This trend report provides a comprehensive and unmatched perspective on the current state of the 3D printing industry,” said 3D Hubs.   “Based on data from our 3D Hubs community, which includes over 10000 printers in over 120 countries, and thousands of 3D print orders every month, we are excited to show you the printers people love and what’s trending in the world of 3D Printing.”

Among other categories that 3D Hubs delved into include “Most Wanted 3D Printers”, “Manufacturer Loyalty”, “Highest Rated 3D Printers”, “Top Printing Cities” and more.

As for what was the Most Wanted 3D Printer, the Ultimaker 2 and Form 1+ from FormLabs were neck-and-neck at the top of the chart by a landslide.  While the Ultimaker 2 offers a desktop Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) solution for $2499, the higher resolution Form 1+ is a bit more costly at $3299.

According to 3D Hubs, out of  “The Ultimaker 2 won by a single vote [184 votes versus 183 votes], but we have to add that it is already one of the most common printers on our platform, while the majority of prospective Form 1+ buyers are new to the manufacturer.”

As for what followed, the Zortrax M200 came in third place followed by the Prus i3, Printrbot and the latest Replicator 2 model from MakerBot.

As any product manufacturer worth their salt knows though, retaining customers through positive user experiences is just as important as selling products to new customers.  According to the report, Lulzbot has the highest turnout of customers who are likely to return to the manufacturer to purchase their next 3D printer.    

“Lulzbot has the most loyal users, as 58.8% of current Taz owners will stick to the manufacturer,” said the report.   “Zortrax takes the 2nd spot with a 50% retention rate while Ultimaker follows at #3 with 49.3% of customers planning to purchase machine from the company again.”

Although the Form 1+ missed by one vote for being the “Most Wanted 3D Printer”, it did however take first place in the “Highest Rated 3D Printer” category for desktop 3D printers , which it also held in last year’s trend report as well.  As for the more expensive industrial 3D printers, both the ProJet 3500 HDMax and the Objet Eden 260 managed to secure a tie at the top of the list.

But of course, with the rise of multiple 3D printing related startups, there were a lot of new 3D printer manufacturers who, while they might not have the same brand and marketing power as MakerBot, Ultimaker or Formlabs, are among the best in up-and-coming brands to watch out for.  Among the list of “Trending 3D Printers” include Flashforge’s Creator Pro (which grew 59% over the last month alone), followed by the metal version of the Printrbot Simple at 45.8% growth.  Finally, the Italian-made DeltaWASP secured third place in the category.

Geographically speaking, New York features the most amount of 3D printers that are connected to the 3D Hubs network with over 176 printers, followed closely by Milan (154), London (127), Los Angeles (122) and Paris (102), respectively.  Among all of the 3D Hubs cities, the 3D printers being used the most on the platform include the MakerBot Replicator 2, the Ultimaker 2 and the Prusa i3.  

As for what people are spending the most money on via the platform, the majority of order dollars go towards 3D printed scale models, while prototypes and art/fashion-related prints follow closely.  Among all of the print orders, the most popular colors for printing are Black, Blue, and Red.  

To see the report in-full, including graphs and an interactive map that highlights where printers are located around the world, be sure to head over to 3D Hubs.    

 

Posted in 3D Printers

 

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Grant wrote at 1/16/2015 5:26:16 PM:

It was surprising to me that Zortrax was high in every single category, while even the form 1 nor the ultimaker were in loyalty category at all. I haven't heard much on the Zortax, I wonder if they are just not good at generating press?

matt42 wrote at 1/15/2015 9:23:08 PM:

i want one



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