Analysts: 3D printing market to triple by 2018

Investors in 3D printing companies, 3D Systems and Stratasys, received a nice surprise Monday following bullish projections from Citi Financial analyst, Kenneth Wong, in a research note to clients. In the day’s trading, 3D Systems Corp stock rose nearly 10 percent to $53.20 a share, while shares of Stratasys Ltd reached a 52-week high of $113.49.

According to MarketWatch, Wong wrote that he believes the 3D printing market may triple in size and be worth more than $6 billion within five years. In the note, Wong wrote that 3D printing, “is on the cusp of seeing much broader adoption across more upstream production applications and the consumer end-market.”

“We also expect to see increased utilization of existing systems as customers start to extend use case beyond small batch digital manufacturing,” he added.

In part, the predictions are based on the fact that key patents are due to expire in 2014, potentially driving down the cost 3D printers to personal computer levels. Coupled with inexpensive 3D scanners, cheap 3D printers could spark wider adoption of the technology in the consumer market.