14 DAY TRIAL // Unlike common paper printing, 3D Printing has potential applications in all sorts of industrial and consumer fields, some even likely to replace current-generation manufacturing procedures altogether, and GIA believes that only great things are in store for it.
A 3D printer is, at its simplest, a box or room that can apply paint or other materials to a three-dimensional object.
Conceptually, 3D printing should even work for building an item from scratch, provided said item is stored virtually on a computer and that the necessary materials are available.
So far, coasters, artificial bones, guitars, glasses and even bikinis have been successfully printed by a 3D printer.
There are still skeptics though, and to them Global Industry Analysts says that, whether they believe it or not, the 3D printing business will reach almost $3 Billion / 2.47 Billion Euro by 2018.
“In the coming years, 3D printing technology would evolve to enable printing of metals including precious metals such as silver and gold,” GIA said in a press release.
“Further, low cost techniques are expected to be developed for enabling 3D printing of widely available materials such as paper and plastic. Another area of growth is the medical sector wherein 3D printing technology could be used for developing replacement parts. Potential also exists for companies to penetrate into educational and medical device sectors.”
The United States will be the largest user of 3D printing. We'd have expected Japan, long-time tech enthusiast, to rank highest, but we suppose the country is just not big enough for its research and development speed to make up for the substantially larger consumer base in North America.
“The market for 3D Printing Products is projected to grow manifold in the near future with 3D printer systems becoming more affordable and easy to use. In the short run, the demand for simple and low cost desktop 3D printers with the ability to rapidly produce concept models for prototypes is expected to witness strong growth,” GIA predicted.