Hey, have you guys heard of this cool new thing called 3D printing? It’s pretty neat! That’s the word from the analysts at Gartner, who’ve just released a report predicting a boom in sales.
In the firm’s first report on the 3D printers cheaper than $100K (so, enterprise and consumer, but not industrial-grade), Gartner predicts the market will grow 49 percent this year, predicting a weirdly precise sales figure of 56,507 units; hit 98,065 in 2014; and follow that with a “near doubling of unit shipments in 2015.”
Research director Pete Basiliere said in a statement:
“The 3D printer market has reached its inflection point…. While still a nascent market, with hype outpacing the technical realities, the speed of development and rise in buyer interest are pressing hardware, software and service providers to offer easier-to-use tools and materials that produce consistently high-quality results.”
This Betabeat reporter remains skeptical that everyone in America will be buying MakerBot Replicators anytime soon–those things ain’t cheap. But our recent trip to Maker Faire certainly suggests there’s more mainstream interest than ever, and then there’re the enterprise uses. Just try to be more responsible than the drone owners.
(via TechCrunch)
