05-12-2022: Ultimaker and MakerBot announced a merger
Creating (at the time) the largest Western manufacturer of desktop-grade 3D printers
On May 12, 2022, MakerBot—the world’s first desktop 3D printer manufacturer—announced its merger with Ultimaker, widely regarded at the time as the largest player in the desktop 3D printer market overall. Under the terms of the deal, NPM Capital—the owner of Ultimaker—contributed the Dutch company’s assets to a newly formed entity and invested $15.4 million into it, while Stratasys—the owner of MakerBot—contributed the American company’s assets and invested an additional $47 million. Simultaneously, NPM Capital became the owner of 54.4% of the new, combined company, while Stratasys took a 45.6% stake.
The company announced it would operate under the name UltiMaker.
Initially, the new company was led jointly by Nadav Goshen, then CEO of MakerBot, and Jürgen von Hollen, then CEO of Ultimaker. Both companies retained their existing headquarters in the Netherlands and the USA. On September 12, 2023, Michiel Alting von Geusau was appointed the new CEO of the combined company.
Earlier, on May 2, 2023, UltiMaker carried out a full rebranding of its product lines, diversifying into the professional segment (Ultimaker + MakerBot Method) and the education segment (MakerBot Sketch Series).
It all looked truly exciting 😁
But then came Bambu Lab... 😧
Bambu Lab turned the 3D printing industry upside down, forcing all FFF 3D printer manufacturers to rapidly rethink all key technical parameters. Starting with construction (CoreXY became the new standard), to firmware (based on Klipper), and finally software. 3D printers began printing 3–4 times faster, and the print quality not only didn’t suffer—it reached an all-time high. Soon after, multicolor or multi-material 3D printing became mainstream, using MMU- or AMS-type systems.
UltiMaker was completely unprepared for this. The company was busy with internal matters—reorganizing operations and integrating teams across two continents. The fact that MakerBot and Ultimaker had been direct competitors for many years didn’t help—now they were supposed to function as a single team. Structures, competencies, product lines, and software all had to be unified.
No one had the time or capacity to properly respond to what Bambu Lab had done (and which other companies quickly followed).
And I’m affraid that situation seems to persist to this day... In market reports, the company barely makes it into the rankings, accounting for only a small percentage of a market entirely dominated by Chinese firms. MakerBot has been reduced to a local educational brand, and UltiMaker is struggling to withstand the price pressure imposed by China.
We'll see if—and how—the former champions of 3D printing manage to make a comeback...?
Source: www.centrumdruku3d.pl
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