CONTEXT stories ‘robust yr’ for AM business with declines in 3D printer shipments in This autumn 2024

The most recent 3D printer cargo figures from CONTEXT paint an image of a difficult final 12 months for the additive manufacturing (AM) business.

Machines throughout each worth class skilled a downturn in gross sales within the fourth quarter of 2024 with gross sales of business machines on the high finish (these priced above $100,000) down by -6% and entry-level machines (priced under $2,500), which had beforehand seen ‘explosive progress’, down -10%.

“2024 was a tricky yr throughout the globe for a lot of 3D printer system distributors, marked by macroeconomic pressures and a shifting aggressive panorama,” mentioned Chris Connery, VP of worldwide evaluation at CONTEXT. “However beneath the floor, there’s a transparent sense of continued robust bottled-up demand that might reshape the business in 2025 and past.”

Whereas the business had beforehand anticipated a rebound over the following 12 months, the report factors to excessive inflation and rates of interest, layoffs, M&A exercise and tariff disputes as causes for the downturn in gross sales however famous that international onshoring initiatives may result in a brand new surge in demand, as and when rates of interest drop.

For the entire of 2024, solely the entry-level phase, pushed by the recognition of manufacturers reminiscent of Bambu Lab and Creality, noticed a rise in shipments, up by 26% on 2023. This enhance is assumed to have positioned a knock-on impact on the following worth class of machines as skilled ($2,500–$20,000) printers had been down -15% on the earlier yr, whereas midrange ($20,000–$100,000) printer shipments decreased by −11%, and industrial methods had been −17% down in comparison with 2023.

Key takeaways at a look:

Industrial class

• Vat photopolymerisation methods skilled 23% YoY progress.
• Shipments of polymer methods in China had been 53% increased than in This autumn 2023, largely because of UnionTech.
• Unit shipments dropped −14% YoY in North America.
• Shipments for all classes of business polymer machines had been down for the yr: vat photograph −30%, PBF −6%, materials extrusion −16% and materials jetting −10%.
• For the yr total, all high 5 distributors within the metals industrial machine class had been Chinese language OEMs, with Vibrant Laser Applied sciences popping out on high in This autumn.
• Nonetheless, This autumn 2024 was equally weak for Western and Chinese language producers with shipments of steel PBF methods down −22% and −20%, respectively.
• DED noticed a lift, with a 15% rise in unit shipments – largely because of Meltio.
• PBF methods made up 71% of all industrial steel printers shipped in This autumn 2024 however had been down −20% YoY.
• When it comes to income, Western distributors carried out higher, with Nikon SLM Options taking the the worldwide high spot with the very best revenues from industrial steel PBF.
• The one distributors transport extra industrial steel printers in 2024 than in 2023 had been Meltio, ZRapid Tech, Eplus3D and (marginally) TRUMPF.
• The pattern for large-format multi-laser methods bore fruit with robust income progress of 29% for Nikon SLM Options and 40% Eplus3D.

Midrange methods

• Midrange printer shipments dropped −18% YoY in complete throughout This autumn 2024.
• Materials jetting noticed a 25% enhance in gross sales together with a 100% YoY progress for Flashforge’s wax-based materials jetting answer aimed on the jewelry market, which catapulted the know-how to the highest spot.
• Eight of the highest 10 distributors shipped fewer printers in 2024 than in 2023.
• Flashforge and ZRapid Tech noticed full-year cargo progress of +123% and +11%, respectively.
• China was the highest area for midrange printers in 2024.

Skilled methods

• Full-year shipments had been down −37% YoY as gross sales from decrease value distributors impacted this increased worth class.
• In This autumn, total shipments had been down −11% on This autumn 2023.
• Nonetheless, shipments of fabric extrusion printers had been down −40% whereas vat photograph printers, led by a shift to MSLA processes, had been up 18%.
• In This autumn 2024, the market cut up was 67% vat photopolymer and 33% extrusion.
• Formlabs shipped 29% extra machines in 2024 than in 2023.

Entry-level methods

• Shipments for the complete yr rose 26% over 2023.
• Nonetheless, progress got here from the primary half of 2024 with This autumn seeing -10% fewer gross sales than This autumn 2023.
• Regardless of a −25% YoY drop, Creality was the chief with a 40% share of the market, with Bambu Lab following at 20% with a quarterly rise of 76%. Flashforge noticed shipments rise 77%.
• Of all Entry-level 3D printers bought in 2024, 96% got here from Chinese language distributors.
• Some minor gamers shifted manufacturing to the US (the most important end-market for this price-class), in anticipation of tariffs, however the economics round wholesale shifts in manufacturing had been deemed not-yet-tenable in 2024.