I received a press release this morning that caught me by surprise and had me perplexed. The headline read “3D Systems to Acquire Geomagic."
What I found confusing is the rationale to acquire another 3D-scanning software company less than three months after the Rapidform acquisition. In the scanning world, it has been a three-horse race for quite some time: Rapidform, Geomagic and InnovMetric. Why would 3D Systems want to own two of the top-three names?
Now, I’ve been expecting 3D Systems to make another acquisition in the 3D scanning space, but I was sure it would be a scanning hardware company. (I’m still confident it will buy a company that makes 3D scanners).
According to the press release, “…positions the company for accelerated growth in the fast-growing, 3D content-to-print space. The transaction adds complementary products and technology, increases the company’s reseller coverage globally…”
I’m not buying that.
First, the software isn’t....
