The accompanying chart shows the percentage of cumulative industrial additive manufacturing systems installed by country from 1988 through the end of 2012. The U.S. continues to lead by a large margin. Japan, Germany, and China have the second, third, and fourth largest installed bases, respectively. The “Other” segment includes countries into which a relatively small number of AM systems have been sold.
As of May 2013, 16 companies in Europe, seven in China, five in the U.S., and two in Japan were manufacturing and selling AM systems. This is a dramatic change from a decade ago when the mix consisted of 10 in the U.S., seven in Europe, seven in Japan, and three in China. What’s more, all of the metal powder bed fusion systems are manufactured outside the U.S. Seven manufacturers of these systems are in Europe and two are in China
