The 3D printing software market will be worth $966M in 2028

Following commercialisation in the 1990s, today 3D printing has established itself as an attractive manufacturing solution for prototyping and beyond. Prior to this explosion of interest, the 3D printing software market was characterised by multiple free and open source build processors, with one or two organisations catering to the industrial user with commercial offerings.

 

In 2017 there were several new entrants with both established CAD/PLM developers and 3D printer manufacturers keen to carve out a share of this rapidly growing market. The push to develop software that enables Design for Additive Manufacture for users looking to fully leverage the design freedoms offered by 3D printing is one of the key drivers of this growth. Given these market trends, IDTechEx forecasts that the global market for 3D printing software will be worth $966 million by the year 2028.

 

This rapid growth is analysed and implications evaluated in the recent market intelligence report from IDTechEx Research: 3D Printing Software 2018-2028: Technology and Market Analysis.

 

EOS, Altair and Ruag collaborated to design and manufacture a weight-reduced satellite antenna bracket, showcased at the IPM Additive Manufacturing Forum in Berlin 2017 (Image source IDTechEx).

 

 

In recent years, printer sales have enjoyed exponential growth rates among industrial users who are more likely to purchase multiple machines: this is set to continue as new technologies at lower price points hit the market. The surge in demand for industrial 3D printers has resulted in increased awareness of the importance that software plays in determining final part quality, in addition to streamlining the workflow of multiple printers. The next industrial revolution will be characterised by the widespread adoption of 3D printing, and will only be enabled with the implementation of software solutions that rapidly increase organisational efficiency, allow for monitoring of digital copies of manufactured products and enable users to design complex geometries quickly and with ease. These key market growth drivers and restraints are discussed in depth in the report.

 

 

3D Printing Software 2018-2028: Technology and Market Analysis shares insights into established 3D printing software technologies and products, including Computer Aided Engineering, Computer Aided Manufacturing and workflow management. Key technological capabilities, target customer demographics, SWOT analyses and leading software developers are discussed for each software category. In addition, this report cuts through the marketing hype to offer a direct comparison of the technical specifications of new printers to be unveiled in 2017 to those which have already been commercialised by market incumbents.

 

Readers of this new report by IDTechEx will gain a comprehensive view of the technologies, applications and markets of 3D printing software. IDTechEx conducted exhaustive primary research with companies within the 3D printing value chain for key insights into the trends impacting growth to 2028. Over 30 company profiles have been included in the report including Materialise, Dassault Systèmes and Autodesk, among others. See www.IDTechEx.com/3dpsoftware for more.