3D Hubs Releases Worldwide 3D Printing Trends Report for June 2016

With each season that passes, we’ve seen a wild array of new innovations produced around the world—many of them hailing from quality and convenient printing services local to designers, thanks to the 3D Hubs network. And in just in one month, we’ve seen their number of printers grow another thousand or more from around 29,500 to 30,500; in fact, in the past nine months, 3D hubs has grown by 10,000, as they proudly report.

Each 3D Hubs Monthly Worldwide 3D Printing Trends Report tends to give us a few surprises and eye-openers each month, entertaining with information about what printers are most popular around the world, along with other accompanying and important facts. If you’re wondering which city has the most hubs, what color is most popular overall, or say, what they prefer to print on in South America, then keep reading here as we break down the Worldwide 3D Printing Trends Report for June 2016.

The ‘Highest Rated Desktop Printers’ category tends to be most interesting for most of us, and if we don’t own a 3D printer currently, we may be shopping for one. There weren’t a lot of changes to be seen in this category for June, however, as the BCN3D Sigma continues their firm grip in first place—and they’ve been there now for three months. Other changes? There’s not much to raise your eyebrows over, with the ORD Bot Hadron climbing up one spot to #4, and the Cubicon Single (from Korean company HyVision) hitting #5. The Zortrax M200, which has maneuvered around the top ten for some time now, has drifted down to #6, but certainly no worries there.

Notably, we are seeing the Ultimaker 2+ at #14, just moving into the ratings. As the 3D Hubs team points out, this is the most reviewed printer on their site, with 7300 customer reviews and a rating of 4.65. That’s definitely a machine to keep your eye on.

The ‘Highest Rated Industrial Printers’ category tends to be very steady, with generally some mild movement and trading back and forth between Stratasys and 3D Systems. This month shows the ProJet 460Plus plaster printer in first, with the ProJet 3500 HDMax in second after knocking the Stratasys’ Objet 260 Connex to third.

For ‘Trending Printers,’ we now see the Ultimaker 2+ Extended taking the glory, while the 2+ is relegated to #3, with the BCN3D Sigma sitting in between them. We see the Form 2 still in #4, and the Rostock MAX V2 down three spots at a still quite respectable #5. And quite interesting: both da Vinci and Prusa are seriously representing, with two models each in the top ten.

‘Top Print Cities’ shows progress in terms of New York shattering their previous records, now at a total of 505 locations, with L.A. boasting over 400. Toronto has been of interest in various recent months as an up and comer, and now shows itself as the fastest growing city, with an increase of 5.1 MoM.

(As always be sure to check out the monthly events calendar too from 3D Hubs to see what’s happening near you.)

‘Printer Model Distribution’ shows the Prusa i3 in first, beating out the Ultimaker 2—and 3D Hubs points out that the Form 1+ now is in seventh place, having jumped over the Ultimaker 1. ‘Printer Manufacturer Distribution’ shows off Ultimaker on top, but MakerBot moving back in again at #2.

“Formlabs is getting closer and closer to Printrbot, and if it keeps up the growth it’ll be #6 next month,” predicts the 3D Hubs team.

In ‘Popular Printers by Region,’ we are indeed seeing some movement this month:

• The Prusa i3 increases its market share in North America once again this month.
• The Prusa i3 and the Zortrax M200 increased their market share this month in Europe.
• The Prusa i3 overtook the Ultimaker 2 in Asia to claim the crown there.
• The Sethi3D, made in Brazil, is now at a promising #5 in South America.

In ‘Color Distribution,’ there’s not much excitement to be had:

“Colors are going out of fashion,” states the 3D Hubs team. “Black keeps getting closer to white, with the two now accounting for more than 56% of all 3D prints.”

The map below is always a source of fascination—check out points displaying hubs in over 150 countries—with a warm welcome to Ghana as a newcomer this month. What category is your favorite in this monthly report? Discuss in the 3D Hubs June 3D Printing Trends Report forum thread over at 3DPB.com.