A new report by analysts IDTechEx forecasts that the market for 3D printing materials will increase ten-fold to $8bn by 2025.
A massive increase in the use and applications of 3D printers is encouraging huge growth in the market for their materials. The total consumable market in $800m in 2013 and is expected to reach $8bn by 2025, according to IDTechEx Research's new report 3D Printing Materials 2015-2025: Status, Opportunities, Market Forecasts.
This new report covers the current and future status, opportunities and market forecasts of 3D printing materials. It contains many illustrative and analytical figures and tables. Plus it includes profiles of 16 material suppliers and interviews with eight industrial end-users.
3D printing is no longer used only for one-off pieces and prototypes, but for final part production of items with reduced and simplified assembly, quicker design iterations, greater design freedom, mass customisation and minimal material wastage. It is already common in aerospace, orthopaedic, jewelry and dental sectors. Adoption is fast-growing in education, military, architecture, medical research and automotive sectors. Nineteen end markets, including these, are covered in the report. The most common applications, technologies and materials vary by geography so the current markets and growth rates are split by region.
Renewed interest is resulting in a wider variety of materials being developed. 3D Printing Materials 2015-2025 outlines the advantages and disadvantages of printing in different materials, the applications of each, and technical data on the properties of 3D printed materials which often differ from traditional manufacturing. The report includes detailed state of the market, in terms of market value and volume, for many popular materials including photopolymers, thermoplastics, metal powders and welding wire. It also discusses new and emerging materials including:
• Electrically conducting materials
• Silicone
• Biomaterials
• Carbon fibre
• Regolith
• Ceramics
• Graphene
As well as new materials, disruptive technologies are also poised to change the playing field - such as desktop thermoplastic recyclers, cheaper ways of producing metal powders, new types of printing technology and competing prototyping technologies.
