[GeronL]

3D printing is cool but I’ve seen that the speed and quality of many of these things aren’t there yet. They will in the future, I believe, revolutionize whole industries.

[Slambat]

“I believe, revolutionize whole industries.”

It could have and it probably would have but the last thing this administration and the banks want is another
industrial revolution that would put capitalism back on
top. This is the throws of a totally manipulated market.

[MaxMax]

Every 3d printer I researched has a problem. Waiting maybe a couple years might be the best decision.
They just seem to cheaply made also.

[Paco]

That depends on the print engine and application. 3DS (3D Systems) has multiple print engines including DMP (Direct Metal Printing). Having first hand knowledge of these machines, they are remarkable. The challenge today for high quality machines is speed, price, material requirements, cost of materials, and build size.

Any one of these issues can be a deal breaker and with all the hype over the past 18 months, the market has been led to believe that you can buy a high quality 3D printer for $1,000-$2,000. You can't.

Quality machines are $70,000-$1,000,000 depending on the requirements above.

Stratasys does an incredible job of marketing, which probably explains why they fared better along with the success of their low end and consumer grade product line (MakerBot). 3DS has a much wider product offering than Stratasys and their prices are pretty steep. If 3DS can't find a way to control sticker shock in a tough economy, Q3 & Q4 are going to be disappointing as well.

3DS has made some incredible acquisitions over the past 5 years, definitely catering to the commercial and high tech material & quality applications (medical, aerospace, automotive) far more than Stratasys. While earnings and expectations may be down for the industry, they won't be down for long, IMHO.