Stratasys - 2,000 Printer sales per month

Statasys is currently averaging 2,000 3D Printer sales per month. While this seems pretty low, when you compare these numbers to last years, you can see a lot of growth in the industry. For the 3rd quarter, Statasys has sold 5925 printers, compared to only 911 last year in the 3rd quarter (source).

However, 2,000 is still a low number. There are people talking about how 3D printing is the "next big thing", something that could rival the popularity of the internet. What do you guys make of this? Will these numbers keep increasing? Will they increase exponentially?

Matt

Printers will be sold more when the price goes down obviously,

As printers from Stratasys is still quiet expensive and the public is quiet limited it just aint that much since it are only Companys that realy could use one.

When printers have better res and price goes down to aprox 250d i guess almost everyone will have one, and it will become as common as a PC or a 2d printer.
Its just now with Reprap being still 500dollars minimum and still having to mess with kits and tuning it constantly is still a problem for most people, and its just low res, you can't do everything and its just not that fast.
That said i wouldnt mind having a printer and having to wait a day or 1-2 if its not a eletricity beast and silent. ^^

I'm wondering just how much actual use the average person has for a 3D printer, is this only a novelty ? It is an interesting item, then so are all CNC machines, the main difference I see is 3D printing does not create the mess that a CNC mill does. I have both, and the mill is MESSY ! However, you just cannot make that many useful items, a coat hanger, a drain screen, a few trinkets, toys, key fobs, all low cost items. Certainly difficult to justify the expense of having a $2,000.oo machine, or even a $200.oo machine. If they were the price of a 2D printer then there would be more use for them, but I don't see it until the Chinese produce a $100.oo printer, then everybody that has rushed to be in the business of making 3D printers will fade away.

That is why you see my company focusing on the high end products/parts, that is the place the large companies do not like to spend their money. That is the last place they will go, that is the first place they like to steal ideas. That is why we like to keep our processes quiet, while we get berated by the "RepRap" community.

When companies like HP, Microsoft, etc., get involved they will do so in a big way, mowing over everybody in the field, including Statasys, these companies have a history of DESTROYING anybody that might be the smallest competition. What can be done ? Nothing. Only hope that the market stays small enough that the big companies do not get interested.

Statasys is not a very large company when you compare it to the likes of Microsoft, Google, and HP, those are the companies that will dominate the future of 3d printing. Google in particular is invading EVERY aspect of our lives, Microsoft is not in the forefront anymore, both will come out with their "Xbox', or what ever they choose to call it, of 3D printing, and rock the world.

Lets see, a ready to go 3D printer today, approximately $1,800.oo, Google comes out with a BRAND name for $1700.oo, what do you think will happen ? Google has the might to do this just for sport, if they choose to. They could do this as a give away, put adverts on everything, like they do now. What a great way to advance 3D printing, brand everything. There could be Pepsi logos on everything. I look forward to the days of free 3D printers for every one, and the all say Nintendo on them. And the last little pig went Wii Wii Wii all the way home.

I'm guessing that this 2000 per month isn't entirely the replicators but also their business machines. So yes it is very low still. Having said this, 5900 vs. 900 year over year in a quarter is a remarkable 600% sales gain. I would not be surprised to see similar % gains for the 2014 3rd quarter. That would equate to about 35,000 Printers per quarter in 2014.