3D Systems, Inc. pioneered the market with the commercial introduction in 1988 of its first system based on stereolithography technology. 3D Systems remains the market revenue leader, but by 2002 Stratasys, Inc. was selling more than twice as many machines and the company has widened that gap in subsequent years.

Early machines sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and even though a careful cost accounting could show tangible savings of many times the purchase price of such systems, it wasn't a trivial exercise. Early adopters were thus for the most part very large companies who could make such a calculation and afford the steep entry price.

In recent years, there has been a strong drive toward much lower-cost systems, often referred to as 3D printers. 3D printers can be located close to engineering groups and other direct users and are easier and friendlier to operate. They provide support for design confirmation applications and can also frequently be used to make adequately functional parts for test and actual use.

As system prices decreased below the $60,000 level starting in 1996, users found it easier to justify purchasing a rapid prototyping system. At the beginning of 2002, two major US competitors, Stratasys and Z Corporation, introduced machines with selling prices in the $30,000 range which accelerated this trend and led to considerably higher unit sales. Prices have continued to come down, but the minimum of $19,000 reached in 2003 has been stable for the last few years. New competitors such as Desktop Factory and new technologies from established vendors are anticipated to push the minimum entry-level price down to $5,000 by the end of 2008. There is at least one vendor in Asia selling stereolithography systems today at approximately $10,000.

Many RP systems still sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, of course. The justification is that these machines either provide greater accuracy, higher speeds or more functional materials than the lower cost 3D printers. This disparity is narrowing with each passing day, however, as vendors improve the performance of their low-cost offerings. A much greater volume of machines lowers manufacturing costs and provides a base for greatly expanding high-margin material sales. The long-term economic model of this segment of the industry is probably not dissimilar to that of today's 2D printer market which is essentially a vehicle for selling ink.

Another major industry trend is the use of additive fabrication technologies to directly manufacture functional, final-use parts. RP is seeping into a wide range of applications where the ability to fabricate geometrically-complex, or customized or unique parts is important. Making small to moderate volumes of parts with greatly lower, or even zero, tooling costs is a strong driving force for this market segment, as is the direct fabrication of tooling itself.

Fields such as aerospace and medicine have been early adopters and the use of additive fabrication is now routine in some of these applications. This trend can be expected to grow substantially as knowledge of the technology's capabilities becomes more widely known and with ongoing improvements in machinery and materials.

System manufacturers provide a variety of additive fabrication technologies, many of which address distinct market segments. In addition, the large capital and training costs of early rapid prototyping systems fostered the growth of a substantial service bureau industry which provides a broad range of engineering, design, and prototyping services to its customers. There are now more than 830 such service-providing locations worldwide.

The large number of technical innovations being pursued in laboratories all over the world, and an ever-widening knowledge of the capabilities of additive fabrication, form a solid foundation for future growth.