3D Printing

mr_fishbulb

Been seeing lots of investing article noise recently around investing in 3D printing, the market potential, growth prospects, etc.

I've got my eye on a US company which I'm going to do some research into, and I can stick it in my ISA which is a plus.

Just wondering if anyone else is looking at this as an investment area?

fwor

It's something that struck me as having a massive growth potential.

But then again... are the technical issues so great that one of the existing makers of traditional printers (or similar devices) could not turn their hand to making them at short notice?

Given that the main consumer interest at the moment seems to be DIY and collaborative (e.g. reprap) I don't think so. In a few years time I suspect that a 3D printer from Samsung or Canon isn't that unlikely a prospect, with no real need for new startups.

[Edit: having said that, the industrial-scale potential is also probably huge, but the technologies (e.g. laser based scanning, rather than mechanical deposition) are probably never going to find their way into the mass market.]

mr_fishbulb

Cheers fwor. I see what you mean about traditional printing companies getting on board - HP now do 3D printers (however they are made by Stratasys.

Stratasys and 3D Systems seem to be the two main players so I think I'll put them on my watchlist for a while.

jimjames

I think it does have lots of potential but I seem to recall that it has been suggested as a "next great thing" for quite a long time.

Personally I've put money into tech funds rather than individual shares so get exposure that way.