Online 3D printing service platform 3D Hubs, headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has released its trend report of the second quarter of 2017. Founded in 2013 by Dutch design engineers Bram de Zwart and Brian Garret, the platform now hosts 6,900 online 3D printing services in 150+ countries.
The highest rated 3D printers, largest manufacturers and most active 3D printing cities are listed and based on 8,624 independent reviews from 3D printer owners who use the site and its services. Top ranking by city in Q2 is also collected using a new method giving more faithful activity readings.
Highest rated desktop and industrial 3D printers
With average print quality ratings from 4.79 – 4.9 stars out of 5, 3D Hubs reveal the highest rated 10 3D printers of those listed on the site. The Original Prusa i3 MK2, BCN3D SIGMA Form 2, and PowerSpec 3D Pro 3D printers have held the top 4 spots for the third quarter in a row.
In the industrial 3D printer rankings, 3D Systems and Stratasys dominate the table, with the EOSINT P 760 from EOS making it in at #5 as a third top 10 contender.
Many of the companies featured in the 3D Hubs trend report, together with 3D Hubs themselves, were nominated by our readers for a 3D Printing Industry Award. You can make your vote now and let us know who should win.
3D printer model distribution additionally shows that the Ultimaker 2 has 2204 3D printers registered on the site, holding 6.2% of the total 3D printers on the site. Ultimaker are also at the top for most popular 3D printer manufacturer, having released its Ultimaker 3 model in October 2016, followed closely by MakerBot. Formlabs has seen a significant rise in registered users since the last quarter earning a place #5 in place of #6.
Regional trends
Starting in this quarter, 3D Hubs are now basing top print city readings on online 3D printers in the area, rather than simply the number of 3D printers. This gives a more faithful reading to 3D printer activity within the area, but still seeks New York “reign supreme as the #1 Print City” at a total of 453 online 3D printers.
The remaining top 10 cities have however had quite a shake-up:
London moves from #3 to #2 overtaking Los Angeles which slips to the #5 spot as Paris and Amsterdam move up to #3 and #4 respectively.
In addition, Berlin enters the table for the first time in 2017, alongside Madrid, which is also home to the 3D printed bridge.
Eindhoven in the Netherlands misses out on the top 10, but it is still listed by 3D Hubs as the cities with the most printing services. With the Additive World conference in the city and the 3D Medical Expo in nearby Maastricht already attended by 3D Printing Industry this year, it would be interesting to see the city move up the rankings in future reports.
The final category combines both types of ranking giving an overview of the best 3D printer by region.
In monitoring trends in 3D printing activity for each quarter, the 3D Hubs reports give a real-time review of movements in the 3D printing community in a given time.
Any thoughts on the report for Q2? Let us know in the comments below. For more updates on 3D printing trends, sign up to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter, and follow our active social media channels.
Voting is now open for the first Annual 3D Printing Industry Awards.
Featured image shows a screenshot of the 3D Hubs interactive printer map. All images featured in this article via 3D Hubs.
