Hasta La Ideas

As we announced earlier, Stratasys, like the objects coming out of their print nozzles, has acquired their own third dimension. Last year, the manufacturer of industrial 3D printers married up, merging with Objet and their super-high-end machines (we looked at a 16-micron-capable unit here); it’s just been announced that they’ve married down as well, scooping up MakerBot and their entry-level machines for a reported $400 million. Stratasys has tried to go low-end before through a short-lived partnership with HP; this time is different, largely because HP doesn’t know what the hell they’re doing and MakerBot does.

So what does this all mean? Several things:

At first blush, this might seem like Makita acquiring Festool, then picking up Skil; the one company will have access to three different strata, if you’ll pardon the pun, of users. In most industries, that spells dominance. But unlike with power tools, with 3D printing there will always be a dedicated DIY-hacker base happy to keep tinkering with their RepRaps in the garage, meaning that that unexpected (and perhaps unreliable) source of individual innovation will not be snuffed out. This is good for everyone.

It does mean, however, that Stratasys will dominate the plug-and-play market. Between them and Objet they’ve got the industrial market well-covered, and with MakerBot’s relative ease-of-use appeal—as proven with their Replicator 2’s 11,000 units sold since launch, accounting for half of the company’s sales since their birth—they will be the go-to for consumers who “don’t want a toaster and just want toast.”

(more…)