The latest 3D printer shipment figures from CONTEXT paint a picture of a challenging last 12 months for the additive manufacturing (AM) industry.
Machines across every price class experienced a downturn in sales in the fourth quarter of 2024 with sales of industrial machines at the top end (those priced above $100,000) down by -6% and entry-level machines (priced below $2,500), which had previously seen 'explosive growth', down -10%.
“2024 was a tough year across the globe for many 3D printer system vendors, marked by macroeconomic pressures and a shifting competitive landscape,” said Chris Connery, VP of global analysis at CONTEXT. “But beneath the surface, there’s a clear sense of continued strong bottled-up demand that could reshape the industry in 2025 and beyond.”
While the industry had previously expected a rebound over the next 12 months, the report points to high inflation and interest rates, layoffs, M&A activity and tariff disputes as reasons for the downturn in sales but noted that global onshoring initiatives could lead to a new surge in demand, as and when interest rates drop.
For the whole of 2024, only the entry-level segment, driven by the popularity of brands such as Bambu Lab and Creality, saw an increase in shipments, up by 26% on 2023. This increase is thought to have placed a knock-on effect on the next price class of machines as professional ($2,500–$20,000) printers were down -15% on the previous year, while midrange ($20,000–$100,000) printer shipments decreased by −11%, and industrial systems were −17% down compared to 2023.
CONTEXT
Yearly Global Industrial and Midrange 3D printer shipments
Key takeaways at a glance:
Industrial class
- Vat photopolymerisation systems experienced 23% YoY growth.
- Shipments of polymer systems in China were 53% higher than in Q4 2023, largely thanks to UnionTech.
- Unit shipments dropped −14% YoY in North America.
- Shipments for all categories of industrial polymer machines were down for the year: vat photo −30%, PBF −6%, material extrusion −16% and material jetting −10%.
- For the year overall, all top 5 vendors in the metals industrial machine category were Chinese OEMs, with Bright Laser Technologies coming out on top in Q4.
- However, Q4 2024 was equally weak for Western and Chinese manufacturers with shipments of metal PBF systems down −22% and −20%, respectively.
- DED saw a boost, with a 15% rise in unit shipments – mostly thanks to Meltio.
- PBF systems made up 71% of all industrial metal printers shipped in Q4 2024 but were down −20% YoY.
- In terms of revenue, Western vendors performed better, with Nikon SLM Solutions taking the the global top spot with the highest revenues from industrial metal PBF.
- The only vendors shipping more industrial metal printers in 2024 than in 2023 were Meltio, ZRapid Tech, Eplus3D and (marginally) TRUMPF.
- The trend for large-format multi-laser systems bore fruit with strong revenue growth of 29% for Nikon SLM Solutions and 40% Eplus3D.
Midrange systems
- Midrange printer shipments dropped −18% YoY in total during Q4 2024.
- Material jetting saw a 25% increase in sales including a 100% YoY growth for Flashforge’s wax-based material jetting solution aimed at the jewellery market, which catapulted the technology to the top spot.
- Eight of the top 10 vendors shipped fewer printers in 2024 than in 2023.
- Flashforge and ZRapid Tech saw full-year shipment growth of +123% and +11%, respectively.
- China was the top region for midrange printers in 2024.
CONTEXT
Yearly Global Professional and Entry-level 3D printer shipments
Professional systems
- Full-year shipments were down −37% YoY as sales from lower cost vendors impacted this higher price class.
- In Q4, overall shipments were down −11% on Q4 2023.
- However, shipments of material extrusion printers were down −40% while vat photo printers, led by a shift to MSLA processes, were up 18%.
- In Q4 2024, the market split was 67% vat photopolymer and 33% extrusion.
- Formlabs shipped 29% more machines in 2024 than in 2023.
Entry-level systems
- Shipments for the full year rose 26% over 2023.
- However, growth came from the first half of 2024 with Q4 seeing -10% fewer sales than Q4 2023.
- Despite a −25% YoY drop, Creality was the leader with a 40% share of the market, with Bambu Lab following at 20% with a quarterly rise of 76%. Flashforge saw shipments rise 77%.
- Of all Entry-level 3D printers sold in 2024, 96% came from Chinese vendors.
- Some minor players shifted production to the US (the largest end-market for this price-class), in anticipation of tariffs, but the economics around wholesale shifts in production were deemed not-yet-tenable in 2024.
