3D printers were supposed to be the future of manufacturing, with one in every home spitting out spare parts and bespoke widgets to improve our lives. While eager engineering aficionados may have one in the garage, the 3D revolution is yet to happen in the home.

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Five years ago, analysts from Canalys crowed that the 3D printer market would top $20 billion by 2019, powered in part by consumers making “impulsive purchase decisions” of $500 home 3D printers. Now, some analysts don’t even bother following the market, with analyst firm IDTechEx suggesting the 3D printing market is worth just shy of $10 billion globally.

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That reflects a steady growth rate of about 13% annually compared to the 44% Canalys predicted. Ryan Schultz, vice president of vertical marketing at 3D giant Stratasys, believes that it isn’t the technology that’s disappointed; instead, people are lagging behind. Schultz used to work in […]

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