The consumer-grade 3D printing market is at a tipping point, poised for explosive growth driven by falling hardware and material costs coupled with a rich ecosystem of affordable 3D models.
We believe that the consumer-grade 3D printing market has reached an inflection point and is poised for rapid expansion. The key driver of this growth lies in the fact that while the user experience of desktop 3D printing equipment continues to improve, the price of bestselling models from the most popular consumer-grade 3D printer brands has now fallen to a level comparable with mid-to-high-end smartphones. Beyond the upfront cost of the hardware itself, the price of related consumable materials has also decreased significantly.
Furthermore, alongside these supply-side cost reductions for both hardware and materials, the flourishing ecosystem of 3D model communities enables consumers to access a vast library of creative 3D models at little to no cost. This effectively empowers users to easily transform their ideas and designs into physical objects. Driven by these dual factors on both the supply and demand sides, the market is expected to experience a significant boom.
Introduction: Why Should We Pay Attention to the Consumer-Grade 3D Printing Market?
At this stage, the core reasons we should focus on the consumer-grade 3D printing market are: 1) The sustained explosive demand in overseas markets provides a valuable reference for forecasting subsequent domestic demand; 2) Driven by the booming IP economy in China, consumer DIY demand is surging, and consumer-grade 3D printing is beginning to show accelerated growth trends.
Firstly, looking at the consumer-grade 3D printing market data from overseas, according to a report by CONTEXT, entry-level 3D printer sales continued their rapid growth in the first quarter of 2025, with shipments increasing significantly by 22% year-on-year. Global shipments for the quarter exceeded 1 million units for the first time, setting a historical record. In contrast, demand across professional-grade ($2,500 - $20,000), mid-range ($20,000 - $100,000), and industrial-grade 3D printers (over $100,000) was generally weak in Q1 2025. Shipments of industrial-grade equipment priced over $100,000 and mid-range models priced between $20,000 and $100,000 fell by 6% year-on-year. This indicates that market vitality is significantly higher within the consumer-grade segment of the 3D printing product structure.
Meanwhile, China's export data continues to strongly validate the current robust demand in the overseas consumer-grade 3D printing market. From January to June 2024, China exported 1.829 million units of 3D printers (almost entirely consumer-grade desktop models), a 40% increase compared to the 1.304 million units exported in the first half of 2023. In terms of export value, China achieved $610 million in exports during 2024, surging 77.2% year-on-year.
Furthermore, the booming trendy toy economy in China has significantly accelerated market education for consumer-grade 3D printing products. The explosive popularity of short-term, hot IP toys like Labubu has led to temporary shortages, making them hard to find. In this context, consumer-grade 3D printing technology effectively meets the demand of many trendy toy enthusiasts for obtaining emotional value at a low cost. By using desktop 3D printers, consumers can achieve "trendy toy freedom" with material costs of just a few yuan. On 3D model community platforms like MakerWorld, the click-through rates for models related to IPs like Labubu continue to climb. Leveraging the popularity of these viral trendy toys, consumer-grade 3D printing has rapidly broken into the mainstream market, noticeably speeding up the process of market education.
Whether it's the sustained boom in overseas demand or the "breaking into the mainstream" domestically, it essentially reflects that 3D printing technology, after achieving cost reductions through technological advancement and economies of scale, is gradually finding more practical application scenarios among end consumers. The consumer-grade 3D printing market is approaching an inflection point and may gradually unveil its vast, starry-sea-like market potential.
I. How to Understand and View the Current Consumer-Grade 3D Printing Market?
1.1 First, Let's Define Consumer-Grade 3D Printing Technology
3D printing technology has been developing for several years, initially focusing mainly on industrial, business-oriented applications. In recent years, with technological maturation and cost reductions achieved through scaling, the market size for consumer-grade 3D printing applied in end-consumer scenarios has gradually increased. According to the classification by market intelligence firm CONTEXT, 3D printers can be primarily categorized by positioning into: Industrial-grade 3D printers (price above $100,000), Mid-range 3D printers (price typically between $20,000 - $100,000), Professional-grade 3D printers ($2,500 - $20,000), and Entry-level 3D printers (price below $2,500).
Compared to CONTEXT's detailed classification, 3D printer products can also be simply divided into two major categories: desktop-grade (i.e., consumer-grade) 3D printers and industrial-grade 3D printers. These two categories show significant differences in positioning, application scenarios, price range, precision, and other dimensions. Essentially, consumer-grade 3D printers can be understood as C-end consumer products with relatively lower technical parameters but whose ease of use and pricing are much closer to ordinary users.
From a technical perspective, consumer-grade 3D printers currently primarily utilize Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology. Compared to other technical approaches, the most typical characteristics of FDM are that it does not require lasers, is simple to use and maintain, and has low costs. Specifically, FDM technology has the following advantages and disadvantages:
1.2 What does the consumer-grade 3D printer market look like at its current stage?
Currently, the consumer-grade 3D printing market is clearly still dominated by overseas demand, primarily from Europe and America. According to forecast data from Gongyan Wang for 2023, China's total production of consumer-grade 3D printers was about 4.01 million units, with domestic sales amounting to approximately 1.5732 million units. The majority of the production was exported to overseas markets.
Delving deeper into the overseas market, data from the General Administration of Customs for 2025 shows that exports of desktop consumer-grade 3D printers reached 2.2776 million units in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 24.5%. The export value achieved was 5.519 billion RMB, up 14.9% year-on-year.
Regarding the regional distribution of exports in 2024, Europe and America were the primary markets. In H1 2024, China exported 680,000 units to the United States, accounting for 37.2% of the total export volume. Exports to Germany reached 360,000 units, constituting 19.7% of the total.
Exports to other key markets in H1 2024 were as follows:
Netherlands: 71,000 units
Canada: 70,000 units (3.85%)
United Kingdom: 62,000 units (3.41%)
Brazil: 51,000 units (2.8%)
Australia: 41,000 units (2.25%)
South Korea: 40,000 units (2.20%)
Japan: 33,000 units (1.81%)
Russia: 25,000 units (1.37%)
Austria: 21,000 units (1.15%)
The domestic market, however, is experiencing a trend of rapid market expansion driven by multiple factors.
Foremost is the continuous and concerted policy support aimed at fostering the development of the 3D printing industry, providing clear encouragement to the market. This policy support can be traced back to 2012 when China included the 3D printing industry in the "National High-Tech Research and Development Plan" (863 Program). Subsequently, clear policy backing has been established, both in terms of top-level strategic design and through complementary industry-specific and local government policies.
Simultaneously, iterative improvements in hardware structure and optimization upgrades in software are continuously lowering the usage barrier for 3D printer products in the end-consumer market, thereby enhancing the overall user experience. On the hardware front, for example, the adoption of lightweight print heads increases their movement speed, which in turn boosts printing speed. On the software side, AI-powered deep learning enables better conversion of user-uploaded 2D images into high-quality 3D models suitable for printing.
Furthermore, continuous cost reduction for consumer-grade 3D printer products is being driven by the scaling effects realized from upstream raw materials to midstream whole-machine manufacturers. For core hardware components like mainboards, galvanometer systems, and lasers, as well as consumables such as engineering plastics, photosensitive resins, and synthetic rubber, the rapid industry development in recent years, coupled with trends in import substitution and economies of scale, has led to significant cost reductions.
Influenced by these multiple factors, the domestic consumer-grade 3D printing market is undergoing a phase of downward price movement and rapid market expansion. In 2017, the average price of a consumer-grade 3D printer in China was approximately RMB 3,800, with a market size of about RMB 356 million. By 2022, the Chinese consumer-grade 3D printer market size had reached RMB 2.974 billion, while the average price had decreased to around RMB 2,200.
Furthermore, the consumer-grade 3D printing market in China is currently primarily applied in areas such as academia/education and DIY creation. For example, users can independently DIY personalized and unique models, figurines, or trendy toys, or customize related functional products based on their specific needs. Additionally, in specific scenarios like education, 3D printing products can be used to create customized versions of concepts or objects from various subjects, thereby better achieving teaching objectives. Overall, consumer-grade 3D printing boasts a very rich and diverse range of application scenarios at the end-user level.
According to statistics from CCID, in 2021, the largest application segment for consumer-grade 3D printing in China was consumer goods, accounting for approximately 43%, followed by academia/education at 34%, with cultural and creative applications making up around 13%.
II. How to Prospect the Future Consumer-Grade 3D Printing Market?
We believe the consumer-grade 3D printing market has reached an inflection point and is poised for rapid expansion.
The core driver of this impending boom lies in the fact that while the user experience of desktop 3D printing equipment continues to improve, its retail price has consistently decreased to a level comparable with mid-range smartphone hardware. Taking the bestselling models from the current leading consumer-grade 3D printer brands, Bambu Lab and Creality, as examples, their most popular mainstream models are generally priced within the RMB 2,000 to 6,000 range.
First, considering Bambu Lab, its hit model, the P1SC—a fully automatic, large-format, multi-color, high-speed 3D printer—serves as a core flagship product. It features an enclosed structure, supports expansion up to 16 colors, and is designed for out-of-the-box usability, eliminating the need for tedious calibration. It can achieve maximum print speeds of up to 500mm/s while offering better control over filament extrusion and retraction, reducing stringing and resulting in smoother, more precise prints. Despite offering a superior user experience, its current price, after tax and government subsidies, is only RMB 3,959, essentially equivalent to a mid-range smartphone.
Looking next at Creality, we examine its flagship mainstream product, the K2 Pro. This model not only meets consumer desktop printing needs but is also capable of fulfilling some business-level requirements. Similar to the Bambu Lab P1S, it supports a 16-color combination, enables automatic material feeding, and employs intelligent filament management. With a build volume of 260mm260mm260mm, it significantly reduces the need for part segmentation, enhancing design freedom. The product also includes a built-in AI camera for intelligent print monitoring. As a product with high configuration parameters, its price is only about RMB 6,299, broadly comparable to a high-end smartphone.
Beyond the upfront cost of the hardware itself, the unit price of related consumer-grade printing materials has also fallen to relatively low levels. Taking PLA, the primary consumable material, as an example: according to data from the Biodegradable Materials Research Institute, PLA in China was in a state of short supply before 2020, with the price per ton once exceeding RMB 30,000. However, in recent years, with the continuous commissioning of PLA production capacity by companies such as Zhejiang Youcheng, Anhui Fengyuan, Shandong Tongbang, and Shandong Hongda, the supply-demand imbalance has begun to ease. The price of PLA has started a sustained decline and currently stands at less than RMB 20,000 per ton. The actual market demand for PLA now accounts for only 40%-50% of the total production capacity, indicating a significant oversupply. Benefiting from this, the cost of core consumables for consumer-grade 3D printing in China has also continued to decrease in recent years. Data from Creality's flagship store on JD.com shows that a 1kg spool of Hyper Series PLA filament (1.75mm) for high-speed printing is priced at just RMB 75. Based on this, the material cost required to print a phone stand is essentially under RMB 3, indicating that overall material costs are already very low.
In addition to the continuous cost reduction on the supply side for both hardware and materials, the prosperity of related 3D model communities allows consumers to access a vast library of creative 3D models at zero or very low cost. This effectively fulfills the consumer's desire to directly transform ideas and creativity into physical products.
Again, using Bambu Lab's MakerWorld platform as an example, the available 3D models encompass a wide range of categories including art, education, fashion, hobbies & DIY, home use, miniatures, props, and cosplay. Specific examples include: within the art category, users share their creations like a rolling stamp maker, figurines of characters from "Langlang Mountain," a Luo Xiaohei seal, a coiling dragon model, and Gundam models; in the education category, users share models such as a nasal cavity structure for biology teaching, an atomic bomb demonstration model for physics teaching, and models of the Shenzhou spacecraft and Long March carrier rocket for science education. Overall, the 3D model examples within the MakerWorld community are extremely rich. Platform users, through their own DIY processes, have greatly expanded the applications of 3D printers across different scenarios, offering consumers a very diverse usage experience.
Furthermore, on July 30, 2025, Bambu Lab officially fully integrated its MakerWorld platform (currently the world's most active 3D printing model content platform with the fastest-growing model library) with Tencent's Hunyuan 3D generation model. According to data from Tencent Hunyuan's official account, their 3D model can achieve high-precision modeling at a 0.1-millimeter level. When handling particularly complex mechanical parts, it effectively balances the technical challenges of "sharp edges" and "smooth surfaces," thereby significantly improving the quality of the final generated 3D printed products. This means that the barrier to 3D modeling for users will be substantially lowered in the future. Users will be able to quickly generate high-quality 3D models simply by inputting text or uploading images, greatly streamlining the previously cumbersome and complex design and modeling processes. This integration will dramatically enhance the experience of the custom design process within the consumer-grade 3D printing ecosystem.
Investment Recommendation
We believe the consumer-grade 3D printing market has reached an inflection point and is poised for rapid expansion. The core driver of this impending growth lies in the fact that while the user experience of desktop 3D printing equipment continues to improve, its end-user price has consistently decreased to a level comparable with mid-range smartphone hardware. Analyzing the bestselling models from the current leading consumer-grade 3D printer brands, such as Bambu Lab and Creality, their most popular mainstream models are generally priced within the RMB 2,000 to 6,000 range.
Beyond the upfront cost of the hardware itself, the unit price of related consumer-grade printing materials has also fallen to relatively low levels. Furthermore, in addition to continuous cost reduction on the supply side for both hardware and materials, the flourishing ecosystem of 3D model communities enables consumers to access a vast and rich library of creative 3D models at little to no cost. This effectively empowers users to easily transform their ideas and designs into physical objects.
Investment Risks
Risk of Market Penetration Falling Short of Expectations: While the consumer-grade 3D printer market is currently experiencing rapid penetration, this momentum could falter due to factors such as slower-than-expected technological maturation, a sluggish pace of new product releases, or delays in market education. Any slowdown in adoption rates could negatively impact operations across the industry's supply chain.
Risk of Freight Cost and Exchange Rate Fluctuations: As the world's largest exporter of consumer-grade 3D printers, a significant portion of revenue for Chinese manufacturers comes from sales to Europe and America. Consequently, substantial fluctuations in ocean freight costs, or in the exchange rates of the US Dollar and Euro, could adversely affect the operations of these Chinese companies.
Risk of Raw Material Cost Volatility: Although the overall manufacturing and material costs for consumer-grade 3D printing products in China have decreased rapidly in recent years, thanks to economies of scale and the localization of core components, a sharp, short-term increase in the prices of specific raw materials or parts could pressure manufacturers' costs and profitability, potentially even affecting overall end-market demand.
Analyst Profiles
Ma Wangjie: Chief Analyst of Home Appliance and Agriculture Industries at CITIC Securities. He holds a Master's degree in Management from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research is thorough and his views are distinct. Within the home appliance sector, his coverage focuses on major appliances, consumer electronics, small appliances, cleaning appliances, two-wheeled vehicles, motorcycles, and electric garden tools. He has been recognized as a top analyst by Shanghai Securities News, Wind (Golden Medal Analyst), and Sina's Golden麒麟 (Elite Analyst).
Fu Tianxing: Analyst within the Home Appliance team.
