3D Printing

2014 Personal 3D Printing Insights Survey

The Photizo Group is currently conducting its second annual Personal 3D Printing Survey the results of which will go to inform insights into the personal 3D printing industry to be published by the group later this year. Photizo defines the “personal” sector of the 3D printing market in terms of 3D printers that cost less than $5000, a fairly typical classification for differentiating between desktop 3D printer platforms for consumer use and the higher end professional platforms.

Like last year, the 2014 survey is dedicated to identifying important trends from end-users of this classification of 3D printer with the primary goal of better empowering entrepreneurs and professionals to make business decisions. As the 3D printing industry continues to evolve rapidly, Photizo, a widely respected global consulting and market intelligence firm, intends to monitor and track the growth of the 3D printing industry year on year and independently disseminate its findings from primary sources — specifically end users.

Last year’s results threw up some interesting issues, one of the most notable being the differences in perception that different people have of low cost 3D printers, according to Scott Dunham, Research Manager at Photizo. He told me that: “Those that actually are using the technology tend to be more willing to spend money on their next 3D printer, because they’ve experienced both what the technology is capable of, as well as some of the current hardware’s shortcomings. Those that don’t own their own printer yet, but are planning to buy one soon, tend to want more of everything – except when it comes to the price tag.”

Building on last year’s success, Photizo is anticipating an even stronger response from the increasing 3D printer user community in 2014 and has expanded the focus of the study in certain areas to better capture trends that have emerged and been identified in the last 12 months. Scott informed me: “There are clearly more important areas than we perceived even just last year. For example, in just a year, the developments with 3D printable materials for low-cost 3D printers has been astounding.”

If you are using one or more 3D printers that cost less than $5000 — at work or at home — Photizo wants to hear from you. The survey, which can be found here, should only take about 10 minutes of your time to complete and participation affords the opportunity to be entered into a draw for some nice prizes including $100 gift card to Amazon.com’s 3D printing store and a $50 gift card for a 3D printing service and content provider.

Do give it your consideration, I for one, will be very interested in the results and keen to share an overview of them here on 3DPI for everyone’s benefit once they have been collated.