“As you may know, Aniwaa is a product-centric 3D printing platform and we’ve built a unique database of 3D printers and 3D scanners. This report provides high-level information about the 3D printing industry, with a focus on products. As always, we strive to be factual, reliable and comprehensive,” Aniwaa co-founder Martin Lansard told 3DPrint.com.
We’ve been following Aniwaa and their dedication to the facts and figures about 3D printing, especially with their recent website update. This data crunching of theirs is no small whim or side job either, as founders Martin Lansard and Pierre-Antoine Arrighi both left promising jobs with large companies last year to pursue what developed into a full-time production of comparative data. With V2, their new site recently launched, they allow those interested in the market to make comparisons between products–currently holding database information on 855 3D printers, 227 3D scanners, and 105 3D sites and software products.
As we all know, the numbers don’t lie, so despite the growing range of products being pushed into the marketplace and the enormous buzz regarding research and development with processes like bioprinting, what we see is that it’s still pretty much business as normal regarding hardware. Close to 60% of users are employing standard extruding 3D printers, with another 21% delving into the more challenging range of resin-based printers. Bioprinting is so slim that it doesn’t even have a percentage number assigned to it. Yet. Powder-bed printing, or metal 3D printing is still low in the numbers–again, for now–as is material jetting.
There’s plenty going on in the 3D scanning market as well, as innovations continue to erupt there, as well as lower prices and competition in the marketplace. The majority of scanners are still being used at industrial venues, employing structured light–with most staying in the under $10K range (90), although out of 235 scanners, it is rather surprising to see how many are actually in the mid-range, with 45 purchased in the $10-20K range and 56 in the $20-50K range.
With this first report, Aniwaa is not attempting to overtake industry favorites already out there, like the 3D Hubs guides or monthly reports–but rather they hope to complement them. It seems they are doing a good job at this, as we were able to read with interest and definitely experienced a couple of ‘wow’ moments examining the data.
“We are a product-centric 3D printing platform and we’ve built a unique database of 3D printers and 3D scanners,” states the team in their report.
All data collection and product analysis is done specifically by them for accuracy. Facts are collected directly from manufacturers, and they keep the database continuously updated with new information. What are your thoughts on this report? Let us know in the Aniwaa 3D Printing Watch forum on 3DPB.com.