Origin of polymer system suppliers by technology 2020 and 2025
EMEA and APAC are expected to pick up on speed
Many pioneering polymer AM system suppliers are from AMER region. Trailblazers like 3D SYSTEMS, ENVISIONTEC and STRATASYS and have shaped the dominance of AMER from the rise of the first AM technologies.
The largest share of industrial polymer AM technology today is Filament Based Material Extrusion. This market is historically also dominated by US based system suppliers. With an estimated number of 53,674 systems, Filament Based Material Extrusion is accounted for more than 40 % of the installed base. This excludes of course personal system of costs less than EUR 10,000. Suppliers from AMER region expect to continue to lead the market of Filament Based Material Extrusion with almost 160,000 systems installed by 2025. However, the suppliers from APAC and EMEA region will take a bigger piece in 5 years as more own developments will hit the market.
The installed base of PBF systems is estimated to be at 8,219 systems worldwide. The large majority of suppliers are located in AMER and EMEA region, at about a 60/40 split. The category of PBF includes HP´s Thermal Powder Bed Fusion process, also known under the brand name Multi Jet Fusion, which has increasing market share and industrial application.
For the upcoming 5 years several developments predict a high growth of PBF system sales. On the one hand, STRATASYS is entering the Thermal Powder Bed Fusion market as reported early in 2021 and thus further increasing the competition. On the other hand, new low-cost systems at prices of around EUR 10,000 are expected to drive the number of system sales in the coming years to reach almost of 45,000 installed systems in 2025. This includes machine vendors such as SINTERIT and FORMLABS.
The polymerization-based technologies are also expected to grow at a significant rate. Especially the system suppliers from APAC are increasing their impact on the market by delivering production ready systems. Currently, AMER suppliers lead the market in this category. The acquisitions of ENVISIONTEC by DESKTOP METAL and ORIGN as well as RPS by STRATASYS will further increase the dynamic in the polymerization market.
On the contrary, no change is expected withing the Material Jetting Market. The US is by far the leading region regarding this technology. With 18,079 systems installed and an expected installed base of 48,956 AMER suppliers have developed an extraordinary position in the market.
Finally, the Pellet Based Material Extrusion is on an expected rise. Several market players are looking into the technology, that is today led by the EMEA region. However, with a total of only 145 installed systems, this technology is just at the beginning despite its high yearly growth expectations of installed machines by more than 60 %.