Which 3D Printing Companies will come out on top?

[NJ_Lifer]

Right now as I see it, the 3 most influential companies when it comes to 3D Printing are:
- Statasys
- 3D Systems
- Hewlett Packard

I know Hewlett Packard doesn't even have a 3D Printer out yet, but they have confirmed they will soon. Which of these companies do you see emerging as the leader in 3D Printing in the next 5 years? Do you think it's possible another company will emerge as the leader?

[Eddie]

I personally think it's way too early to tell. My guess is that these three companies will all be up there for the next 5 years at least.
Eddie

[JohnA136]

I agree with Eddie! I might have swapped 3D Systems with Stratus in the order though.

[Geoff]

Yeah, too hard to say. Leading the way I think is Statasys. They have been doing this for so long now (decades) who knows what tech they are working on, what they can do today blows me away, so who can tell what they have up their sleeve. My money's on them.

HP are doing their usual thing, they will target the engineering field first with a big industrial type machine at a reasonable price and then ooze into the home with something small and even cheaper. I'm not knocking HP however, they do make good hardware that is pretty well known for way outlasting it's expected lifespan.

[Larry]

3D Systems was the Original inventor of 3D Printing, so they are likely a step ahead. HP on the other hand has the capital to really get things going. It will be an interesting battle, and will likely help drive prices down as competition heats up. Who knows if Google, Apple, Dell, or Microsoft will enter the Industry or not...

[Artiemosk]

3D Systems market cap is $7.8 Billion and they have models from the retail, home designed Cube 3 at $999 to production models near $1,000,000
Stratasys' market cap is 6.2 Billion and they own Makerbot at $1375 on the low end and Fortis at the high end (way over $1 million)
HP's market cap is $56 Billion and they have no 3D printers on the market yet. They will have to overcome a huge hurdle to enter the retail market in 2014.
I work at 3D Systems supporting the Cube line at retail and there is still too much, "I've heard of 3D printing but never seen it," at the retail level.
I would think all three will excel in the 3D printer wars to come. HP has lots of money but a ways to go vs. 3DS and Stratasys who have been in this field for decades.
Both of their stocks have increased in value more than 50% in the past 5 years and we all know how HP has been the past 5 years. I sure wouldn't count HP out though.

[ajperez]

What about an acquisition of either of the big two by HP? That would be a proven straightforward way to get a piece of the pay when slices are still big, and a tremendous gain of assets that are hard to get quickly even if you have the capital, such as Intellectual Property and customers. Also the stock market loves those deals. Has anyone heard anything like that? I have not.

I follow food 3D printing at @foodfabbing.

[Bradley]

I think it may depend on which company can disrupt a mainstream industry. For example, if Contour Crafting had a breakthrough and was able to do something like print $250K homes for $25K they would swallow up the construction industry.

Also, what if expiring patents coincide with big innovations that leave Statasys and 3D Systems out of the game. For example, autonomous car technology will be released no later than 2019. Autonomous cars don't crash, therefore, we will be able to build them lighter and without expensive safety equipment, hence, reducing the barriers to entry into the automobile market. Maybe the patents that expire between now and 2019 will spur a local vehicle manufacturing market and the big 3D print companies won't profit from it.

The way to figure out which company will come out on top may be to look for signs of public engagement in those things we consider necessities (food, shelter, health, etc.). I was pretty disappointed with the CEO of 3D Systems when I saw him get excited about the concept of engaging the public through Disney dolls customized with your child's face. He gave his talk less than a year (Oct 2013) before Sony's projected introduction of virtual reality (March 2014) for the Playstation, yet he was getting excited about plastic dolls. If he had been excited about how 3D printing will fit in with a confluence of emerging technologies I would have been convinced he had some grasp of the future and a plan to profit from it.

My guess is that the companies you listed will remain fairly stagnant because they are big corporate slugs.

[RepRapOwner]

Well you know that Stratasys and 3D systems will be up there for a while. I think it's possible a larger company could buy them out, or even possible that the two will merge at some point.

As for HP, they need to make a move soon if they have hopes of making a dent in the 3d printing industry. Sure they have a lot of assets at their disposal, and a name that is synonymous with printing. However, they still need to act before it's too late.

[Maggie]

What about the company that buys out Stratasys or 3D Systems? I think it's very possible to see something like that in the next 12 months. Especially now that their stocks are at depressed levels.