3D Printing Industry Totals $3.7B in Q1 2023 with 10% Sequential Growth

Summary

June 20, 2023 - The first quarter of 2023 in the global additive manufacturing market recorded double digit sequential growth versus Q4 2022, despite mounting economic challenges, according to SmarTech Analysis. The growth rate for all additive manufacturing hardware, materials, software and services is estimated to be 10.0% (to $3.7B) for Q1 2023 compared to $3.4B in the previous quarter.

While investments into hardware and consumption of print materials were nearly flat on a sequential basis, the continued use of additive manufacturing services in the post-pandemic era powered growth of the market to start 2023. The year-over-year results were encouraging across all sectors as well, with metal 3D printing markets up more than 20% and polymer 3D printing markets up 17% year over year.

SmarTech has tracked 3D printing and additive manufacturing market data on a quarterly basis for more than eight years. SmarTech's market data represents the longest running and deepest quarterly industry accounting available worldwide.

Scott Dunham, SmarTech Analysis EVP Research, commented, "While some industry players painted a more negative picture of the market's conditions to start the year, the AM market continues to grow at the edges because the value proposition in additive hasn't really changed despite the economic waves of the last two years. The biggest names are finding, however, that scale is difficult to achieve. We believe this is because initial adoption barriers for AM are low, while significant, game-changing adoption is difficult to achieve for customers. This will likely be the status quo for a while, and it underscores the importance that customer facing consulting groups, flexible machine configurations, and a stable executive and corporate structure can play in succeeding as an AM company."
 

About the report

SmarTech's "Core Metals" and "Core Polymers" market data products include nearly a decade of historical quarterly data and provide 10-year forward forecasts. Quarterly reports on the metal and polymer AM markets are available as a one-time or subscription purchase via SmarTech's website and are customizable as needed. 

From the report

• Use of AM in general industrial and energy markets drove some public application highlights. From use in power plants, to filtration, to producing customer specific cutting tools, the 'General Industrial' sector in SmarTech's metal additive market tracking database is expected to eventually consume the second most metal powder from use of AM by the end of the forecast period, trailing only the Aerospace sector.
• One of the major growth dynamics of the PBF market the last several years has been growth at the edges of the industry driven by new entrants, but not nearly as strong continuous growth from the core competitors. SmarTech believes that this trend is primarily to do with customer acquisition, and the retention of expert employees.