News

A US-based technology start-up is making an ambitious play for the 3D printing market with desktop kit that brings "the power of printing in 3D to the masses".

Desktop Factory has officially launched its 125ci, a £2,475 ($4,995) machine that uses industry-standard formats, such as CAD files, to build "durable, functional" models layer by layer using a nylon composite powder.

The system significantly undercuts currently available products, such as market leader Z Corporation's £9,855 Z Printer 310 Plus.

Desktop Factory chief executive Cathy Lewis said that until now, 3D printing had been confined to realm of major corporations, as manufacturers keep prices high to recoup on heavy R&D investments.

"No one wants to drive down the cost, which is where Desktop Factory steps in," Lewis told printweek.com.

The firm is taking pre-orders for the first 1,000 units, with 300 placed so far. Of those, 60% are heading to the education sector, such as schools and trade technical colleges, and the other 40% are going to SMEs in the "engineering and design arena" and big businesses, such as aerospace firms, wanting to "augment what they already have".

Terry Wohlers, president of 3D printing consultancy firm Wohlers Associates, said the potential market for low-end kit was "large", but added that the tight margins could pose a problem.

"At $5,000, you'd need to sell a boat-load of systems to make it economically feasible. Can a company such as Desktop Factory make it up in volume? It's much too early to predict," he added.

However, Lewis said the current price tag was just the beginning and planned to sell kit for less than "$1,000 within five years".

The 18-staff firm's first focus is to "open up the US", but would begin to look at the EU and rest of the world from mid-2008, which would allow it to "double sales".

The Wohlers Report 2007 showed that growth in the market had slowed from the "extraordinary" 95.2% surge of European installations in 2004, down to 12.4% in 2006, compared with 21.7% worldwide.