3D Printing Breaks $4 Billion
It was not a difficult prediction to make: with most 3D printing companies growing strongly, the global turnover of the 3D printing industry was going to increase. According to Wohlers Report 2015, the industry worldwide grew from $3 billion in 2014 to $4.1 billion in 2014. Considered by many as the “bible” of the additive manufacturing industry, the report is now in its 20th edition and is available for sale at 3D Printing Industry.
Growing by 35%, for an industry that is already in the billions, is no simple feat. This means that the value of 3D printing’s global turnover is practically doubling every two years. Report publisher Wohlers Associates predicts that it will exceed $7 billion in 2016. The market for additive manufacturing, consisting of all AM products and services worldwide, has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.8%, on average, for the past three years (2012–2014).
“The first Wohlers Report was published in April 1996,” said Terry Wohlers, principal consultant and president of Wohlers Associates. “It was 40 pages in length and represented the first-ever published analysis of the industry worldwide. The AM industry represented a mere $295 million in 1995. A lot has changed in 20 years, and we’ve worked hard to document this change. I am proud to say that no other publication comes close to matching the depth and breadth of data and market analysis that is found in our annual report.”
Going from $295 million to $4.1 billion means that what was once just a different approach to product development and prototyping is, today, an industry unto itself. Still, most agree that we have just begun to scrape the surface of AM’s potential and that the possibilities for further growth are realistic. Furthermore, this data does not include most professional 3D software sales (also documented in Wohlers Report 2015), a sector which is undeniably living through its own revolution, due to the new manufacturing possibilities offered by 3D printing. The same can be said for 3D scanners and 3D visualization systems, which are also important parts of the digital manufacturing revolution.
Available now at 3DPI’s Report Portal, Wohlers Report 2015 focuses on all aspects of 3D printing, providing an in-depth review and analysis of the industry worldwide, including growth, competitive products and services, and future outlook. Its content spans from recent history, applications, processes, materials, and equipment manufacturers, to developments in R&D, investment and collaborative activities in government, academia, and industry. In all, Wohlers Report 2015 offers a clear picture of the state of the industry around the world. With all that happened since the 2014 edition, the new report tells an entirely new story, one that has been writing manufacturing history for the past 20 years and will continue to amaze us in the years and decades to come.
