We’ve been following the rise of 3D printing in China for a while now. The growth of the industry has been nothing short of meteoric. 3D printing began to gain popularity in 2014, with the shipment of 3D printers in China reaching 34,000 that year. A mere two years later, the country is expected to surpass the United States in printer shipments by the end of 2016.
“China’s local 3D printer market will surpass the US market in 2016 with an annual growth rate over 100%. However, the US is expected to retain its position as the market leader in terms of market revenues, due to the greater proportion of high-end printers adopted by the manufacturing sector,” said Wendy Mok, research manager for IDPS at International Data Corporation China (IDC). “To capitalize on this growth, 3D printer vendors will have to discover and meet the demands of corporate users and the trend of industrial transformation in China. Vendors should aim to provide comprehensive solutions in different market segments in order to increase their competitiveness.”
Although the official numbers haven’t been released yet, it is estimated that China shipped about 77,000 3D printers in 2015, a growth rate of 120% in one year. We tend to associate China with low-cost products, and indeed the Chinese printer market is mostly composed of the less expensive desktop printers, which make up 90% of the market. A large proportion of those are FDM printers as inexpensive as $500. It’s not all cost-related, however; the large market for desktop printers may be partially due to the major push that China has been making for 3D printing education in schools.
In terms of revenue, professional 3D printers generate 78% of the printer market; while fewer of them are being shipped than desktop printers, their higher cost has vaulted them to the top as revenue generators. Experts are not expecting the growth of the overall 3D printer market to slow anytime soon; IDC projects that 3D printer shipments will reach 440,000 by 2020, a compound annual growth rate of 43%.