I tinkered with a Zortrax m200 back in 2016. It was one of the best 3d printer metal boxes out there period. So many firsts ..just ahead of its time. Shenzhen based Kingroon (model KP1) and Twotrees (model Woodpecker) even copied it ..the clones were the first printers I got to test as a potential reseller for these two brands in early 2017( i still have them!). At some point I think Zortrax stopped innovating. Even the KP1 v2 that came out was now better than whatever Zortrax was putting out. Also one of the key learnings I have from the Creality enders and now Bambu P1/X1 is that ubiquity of spares also drives incredible sales. Zortrax missed that bus.
The real problem with Zortrax, from beginning to end, was its cofounder and CEO. He created it for one purpose only – to sell it quickly for a huge profit.
But instead, the company that was supposed to be sold in its third year of operation began to grow and develop organically. And for that, there was no idea, no plan. Every decision made after 2015 was ad hoc. There was no broader strategy or long-term planning. Everything was calculated for a sale that never came. From the outside, it looked as if he was endlessly bidding up the price. No matter what he was offered – it was always too little.
Then Babula replaced Tomasiak, then removed him from the company altogether, then various strange businessmen started circling around the company, and it all ended the way it ended…
I mean, formally it’s still going – but without a hope.
Do they have any IP worth anything now? Is the installed capacity of printers leading to any after sales revenues? Or are they just trying to sell the brand name now?
I my opinion nothing they own has any value anymore:
- the FFF printer is way outdated
- the SLA (LCD) printer is outdated
- software was sold to Roboze
- no one cares about their filaments anymore
- customer base is relatively small to today's standards (in 2015-2017 it was a lot; today BL or Creality sell more in a week than ZX was selling for a whole year).
And as for brand - even in Poland less and less people recognize the name anymore. Which breaks my heart.
I tinkered with a Zortrax m200 back in 2016. It was one of the best 3d printer metal boxes out there period. So many firsts ..just ahead of its time. Shenzhen based Kingroon (model KP1) and Twotrees (model Woodpecker) even copied it ..the clones were the first printers I got to test as a potential reseller for these two brands in early 2017( i still have them!). At some point I think Zortrax stopped innovating. Even the KP1 v2 that came out was now better than whatever Zortrax was putting out. Also one of the key learnings I have from the Creality enders and now Bambu P1/X1 is that ubiquity of spares also drives incredible sales. Zortrax missed that bus.
The real problem with Zortrax, from beginning to end, was its cofounder and CEO. He created it for one purpose only – to sell it quickly for a huge profit.
But instead, the company that was supposed to be sold in its third year of operation began to grow and develop organically. And for that, there was no idea, no plan. Every decision made after 2015 was ad hoc. There was no broader strategy or long-term planning. Everything was calculated for a sale that never came. From the outside, it looked as if he was endlessly bidding up the price. No matter what he was offered – it was always too little.
Then Babula replaced Tomasiak, then removed him from the company altogether, then various strange businessmen started circling around the company, and it all ended the way it ended…
I mean, formally it’s still going – but without a hope.
Do they have any IP worth anything now? Is the installed capacity of printers leading to any after sales revenues? Or are they just trying to sell the brand name now?
I my opinion nothing they own has any value anymore:
- the FFF printer is way outdated
- the SLA (LCD) printer is outdated
- software was sold to Roboze
- no one cares about their filaments anymore
- customer base is relatively small to today's standards (in 2015-2017 it was a lot; today BL or Creality sell more in a week than ZX was selling for a whole year).
And as for brand - even in Poland less and less people recognize the name anymore. Which breaks my heart.