3D Hubs’ 3D Printing Trends for November 2014

Each and every month, 3D Hubs takes data that they gather through the various individuals and companies who use their service to created an in-depth look at what the latest trends are within the 3D printing space. These data include ratings on the various 3D printers, as well as 3D printer distribution, analysis on demographics for certain printers, and more. Using their always growing database of now close to 9,000 different 3D printer listings, located all around the globe (160 different countries), they are able to provide quite the sample size for these types of studies, something not many other companies, if any, can come close to matching.

This month, FormLabs remains at the top, as far as print quality ratings go. They claim the top two spots, with their Form 1+ and Form 1 3D printers. For those who didn’t know, the Form 1+ is their latest stereolithographic 3D printer. It replaced the previously manufactured Form 1 back in June when FormLabs announced several upgraded enhancements to the machine. This month it overtook its predecessor by claiming the top spot as far as quality ratings go, scoring a 4.82 out of 5.00.

This month, 3D Hubs decided to do something a bit different. Previously all 3D printers were mixed together as far as ratings go, but starting this month they elected to separate the industrial 3D printers from desktop 3D printers. The move should make things a little more clear for those interested in just one of these markets, which usually is the case.

As far as industrial 3D printers go, both the 3D Systems Projet 3500 HDMax and the Stratasys Objet Eden 260 scored a maximum 5 stars for print quality. Granted, the sample sizes are not all that large (only 11 and 12 reviews each). It should be interesting to see if these ranking hold up with a plethora of new machines coming from both Stratasys and 3D Systems very soon, as well as the entrance of Hewlett Packard into the 3D printing space.

Also for the month of November, the Form 1+ saw a whopping 49.2% growth over the previous month, as far as listings go on 3D Hubs. The MakerBot Z18, which was recently released, also saw large growth numbers, with a 40% increase in listings over last month.

As far as the top cities using 3D Hubs’ services, New York City maintains the top spot with 144 3D printers being made available on the service, representing 7.5% growth over last month. Milan comes in 2nd with 134 3D printers, maintaining its position. However, London passed Los Angeles to claim the 3rd spot this month, now with 111 printers having their services offered up on 3D Hubs. Paris, France saw a huge growth of 16.4%, partially because of a 3D Hubs launch event that took place just recently within the city.

For 3D printer model distribution, the MakerBot Replicator 2 holds the top spot, representing 9.2% of all 3D printers listed on 3D Hubs. Coming in 2nd is the Prusa i3, which overtook the Ultimaker 1. The Ultimaker 2 also passed its predecessor by climbing from the 5th spot all the way up to 3rd on the distribution chart, now with 550 printers represented (6.6%).

For 3D printer manufacturers, Stratasys continues to lead this category with 23.6% of all printers listed being manufactured by them. Of course these numbers include their subsidiary, MakerBot, which develops desktop 3D printers. Coming in at second was the open source RepRap “brand” of 3D printer, although we probably shouldn’t really consider them to be a manufacturer. Following them, to round out the top 5, were Ultimaker, 3D Systems, and pp3dp.

Probably the stats that I enjoy dissecting the most are those depicting which regions take a liking to particular 3D printers, compared to other regions around the world. Just recently, both MakerBot and Ultimaker, the two leaders within the desktop FDM 3D printing space, decided to expand their reach. MakerBot is now focusing more on distributing their printers outside of the US, while Ultimaker, a traditionally European based company, has decided to also expand outside of their region, opening distribution centers in the US. With this said, North America still favors MakerBot, with the Replicator 2 and 2X making up 20.3% of all printers listed on the continent. The same can be said about Ultimaker in Europe, with 18.5% of the continent’s listings being for an Ultimaker brand of 3D printer. South America, on the other hand, prefers the more affordable, DIY model of 3D printer. This month, RepRap has overtaken the top spot in the region, with the MakerBot Replicator 2X surpassing the Prusa i3 for 2nd place.

As far as the growth goes for 3D Hubs, a company which only got off the ground in 2013, it continues to grow at a constant, yet slightly increasing rate. Now with over 8,765 printers listed, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see them hit 10,000 total printers by the end of the year. Check out the entire trend report for November via the 3D Hubs website.

What do you think of these statistics? Do you notice anything interesting? Discuss on the 3DHubs Trend Report forum thread on 3DPB.com.