Market intelligence firm CONTEXT has projected that shipments of industrial 3D printers - those valued at 100,000 USD and more - will recover by the latter half of 2025.
Its last quarterly report published in October noted that there was a 17% decline in industrial printer revenues in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023. In the first six months of 2024, CONTEXT reports that industrial shipments dropped 15% compared to the previous year.
Now, however, it suggests that the fall of interest rates will allow the demand for industrial 3D printers to result in more purchases and shipments. CONTEXT forecasts that, should interest rates continue to fall and pricing of machinery remains stable, then shipments of industrial systems could rise by 15% in 2025. This, CONTEXT says, would bring sales in the segment back to levels last seen in 2021.
“Interest rates are beginning to fall, and the declining cost of capital has the high-end of the additive manufacturing industry poised for a rebound,” said Chris Connery, VP of Global Analysis at CONTEXT. “We’re seeing cautious optimism from system manufacturers which continue to report strong interest and engagement from buyers, ready to purchase once financing becomes more attractive.”
CONTEXT suggests high interest rates and restrained capital expenditure have 'tempered demand' for the largest 3D printers in key sectors. Its five-year projection for industrial 3D printer shipments remains favourable, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 19%.
Meanwhile, CONTEXT's latest market report also says sales of consumer-centric entry-level printers (costing under 2,500 USD) soared, with shipments up 41% when compared with H1 2023 on a trailing twelve months basis.
Although the midrange (20,000–100,000 USD) and professional (2,500–20,000 USD) price classes also saw shipments decline, by −10% and −28% respectively, over the same period, the top and bottom of the market are the segments most closely watched as they accounted for 43% and 42% of aggregate revenues. Current estimates are that only the entry-level segment will show growth when full-year 2024 figures are available; shipments of all more expensive printers are expected to be down on 2023 by at least single-digit percentages.
“As global inflation continues to cool hand-in-hand with declining interest rates, other segments are also poised to see growth in 2025,” noted Connery. “Our forecasts show Midrange shipments on track to rise 14%, and Professional shipments 8%, over 2024. The latter class is still lagging as much of the previous demand for these printers has shifted to Entry-level models. While it seems that Entry-level shipments are cooling off a bit as 2024 winds down, they are still poised for another year of double-digit percentage growth in 2025 irrespective of changes in interest rates.”
