The Growth Paradox
3DP War Journal #74
Is it possible to consistently lose market share while growing faster than ever? Well, it’s a reality that some are reluctantly unwilling to accept.
I understand the disappointment and dissatisfaction. At first glance, it looks like a failure. A company that “in its heyday” held a 50% share of the 3D printing market now has a mere symbolic 5%. It looks like a catastrophe, like the end of an era.
But then we look at the other side of the equation: back then, the market was worth $100 million, and 50% meant $50 million. Today, with whole market valuation exceeding $10 billion, 5% means over half a billion dollars.
The company “lost” the market only to grow bigger than ever before.
We are currently dealing with a paradox that some people neither want nor are able to understand.
The AM industry has always been a bit poor, a bit too slow, a bit too small - and yet, it has constantly, consistently, and continuously grown.
Back in the day, that growth was absurdly large (I remember when sales growth hovered around 50% year-on-year), but in terms of real numbers, the amounts were ridiculous (eg. from 100 units to 150 units).
Consequently, for years, everyone focused only on the percentages.
And perhaps this habituation to percentages causes the biggest mistake participants make: an obsession with market share.
Market shares here are like a mirage - they look tempting but lead you into the desert. Meanwhile, the real water springs from a different source: the development of the entire market.
This is very clear in the data. According to the VoxelMatters “Additive Manufacturing Market 2025” report, in 2024 the 3D printing market was worth $12.3 billion. Of this, $5.5 billion was hardware, $4.3 billion services, and $2.4 billion materials.
By 2034, this market is projected to grow to over $108 billion with a CAGR of 24.4%.
And now look at this: the top 10 companies in this industry have only a 27% share of revenue. Only 27%! And the top 50 companies - just over half the market, at 54%. All the rest - nearly 6000 companies - are small and medium-sized enterprises scattered across the globe.
The most interesting part in all of this is that the story of “losing market share” applies to virtually all the larger legacy firms in the industry. The market is growing so fast and so broadly that anyone who isn’t sprinting has a statistically smaller share - even if they are growing like never before.
It’s a bit like you ran a restaurant in a small town, served 100 meals a day, and had 50% of the local food market. A few years later, the town becomes a metropolis, dozens of new restaurants open, and you now serve 1500 meals a day. Except now you only have 5% of the market.
Is that a failure? Is it a reason for shame? Is it proof of business incompetence? No - it’s proof that your city has exploded. And you have grown with it.
Meanwhile, some players in the 3D printing industry still try to live by a scarcity mindset: if someone gains, someone else must lose. Whereas additive manufacturing has never been a zero-sum game.
This is a market where the greatest prize goes to those who help make the pie bigger, not to those who try to take a larger slice from a small tray.
For years, AM was called the “future of manufacturing.” The problem was that this “future” was for a long time just a promise, not backed by billions in investments or mass adoption.
But now, it finally is - yet unfortunately, some people still look only through the lens of their own slice of the market, failing to see that the entire market is growing.
Therefore, the worst thing an AM company can do is to lock itself into a fight over fractions of a market share. It’s a fight it will always lose - not because it is weak, but because the market is growing faster than anyone can keep up with.
If you focus on your market share - you will lose.
If you focus on the market’s growth - you will win.
That is the whole secret.
Companies fail, companies restructure, companies change owners - but the market lives on independently. Not only does it not collapse, but it consistently grows year after year.
As
once wrote - what people fail to see is that the growth is spread widely, not concentrated in the hands of a few giants. The future of AM does not depend on the performance of the top 10 firms, but on the work of thousands of smaller enterprises scattered around the world.They are the ones raising the bar, developing applications, validating the industry, teaching the manufacturing sector, developing software, testing materials. They do all those boring, everyday things that truly drive the market.
And that’s the key ingredient to a winning formula.
#7. LEGO debuted first mass-produced 3D printed element in new set
LEGO has launched its first mass-produced 3D printed part - a miniature blue locomotive- in the new Icons Holiday Express Train set. This milestone, following a nine-year development period for a proprietary high-speed AM platform, moves the technology beyond prototyping into full-scale consumer production.
The intricate part, impossible to make via traditional injection molding, unlocks new design possibilities. LEGO aims to make 3D printed elements a standard, “boringly normal” part of its design toolkit.
READ MORE: www.3dprint.com
#6. Batch.Works and E3D partnered to scale circular 3D printing farms
Batch.Works has partnered with E3D-Online to build and operate next-generation 3D printing farms in the UK and globally. This collaboration combines Batch.Works’ circular materials and software platform with E3D’s hardware expertise. The partnership builds on an Innovate UK-backed project to advance distributed, sustainable manufacturing.
READ MORE: www.voxelmatters.com
#5. Dyndrite partnered with IAM3DHUB to boost European Metal AM
Dyndrite has signed an Expression of Interest to join the International Advanced Manufacturing 3D Hub (IAM3DHUB) as a Technological Partner. Announced at Formnext 26, this collaboration aims to accelerate the adoption of metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) technologies across Spain and Europe. The partnership will help companies and research institutions scale metal AM production with greater efficiency and reliability. Dyndrite’s software provides advanced capabilities in computation and toolpath control, complementing IAM3DHUB’s role as a European “test-before-invest” center.
READ MORE: www.dyndrite.com
#4. Saab invested $10M in space startup Pythom
Saab has invested $10 million in Pythom, a space technology firm with Swedish roots developing lightweight, rapidly deployable rockets. Pythom’s innovative rocket development heavily leverages additive manufacturing, focusing on simplicity and speed.
READ MORE: www.voxelmatters.com
#3. Alquist scaled 3D concrete printing for US commercial construction
Alquist is partnering with Walmart and retail chains on over a dozen US commercial projects, marking the largest application of 3D concrete printing in American commercial construction.
To enable this scale, a new partnership model was formed with Hugg & Hall (financing/rental) and FMGI (equipment operation). This allows Alquist to offer its A1X printing systems and training as a combined package. The technology will be used for load-bearing walls and infrastructure, accelerating build times and promoting sustainable practices.
READ MORE: www.3printr.com
#2. EXIM Bank approved $27.4M to boost 6K Additive’s metal powder production
The U.S. Export-Import Bank has approved a $27.4 million financing package for 6K Additive to expand domestic production of metal powders for additive manufacturing and traditional processes. The funding, part of the Make More in America Initiative, will increase the company’s annual capacity in Burgettstown, PA, from 200 to over 1,000 metric tons. The project is expected to create 50 new skilled jobs and follows a separate $23.4 million Defense Production Act grant awarded to the company.
READ MORE: www.tctmagazine.com
#1. Stratasys published Q3 financial report
Stratasys reported Q3 2025 revenue of $137 million, a 2% year-over-year decline. The company posted a GAAP net loss of $55.6 million, primarily due to a $33.9 million non-cash impairment on its Ultimaker investment. Excluding this, non-GAAP net income was $1.5 million.
Operating cash flow improved to $6.9 million. The company reiterated its full-year guidance, projecting $550-$560 million in revenue and $30-$32 million in adjusted EBITDA.
READ MORE: www.voxelmatters.com
Excellent analysis..as usual.