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Tag: 3D Hubs

  • These Are The Top 10 Trending 3D Printers Of January

    3D Hubs was arguably the greatest thing to happen to the Maker movement in 2013. Not only did it give makers an easy outlet to share their 3D printers with the community, but it also let us get a pretty good idea of what 3D printers were popular among said makers. In December, the Ultimaker 2 reigned supreme, and it looks like not much has changed in the new year.

    This morning, 3D Hubs published its monthly 3D printer trends report with the Ultimaker 2 once again taking the top spot among the most popular 3D printers. It’s important to note that this is only among 3D Hubs users and many of its users are from Europe where the Ultimaker is sold.

    Of course, it’s not like the Ultimaker is coasting at the number one spot. It’s having to fight some serious competition from the Up! Mini and Solidoodle 3D printers. 3D Hubs also notes that MakerBot’s Replicator and Replicator 2X are crawling their way up the top 10 list.

    These Are The Top 10 Trending 3D Printers

    Ultimaker may be big in Europe, but it can’t compete with the large variety of 3D printers available from its competitors. Stratasys, a company that owns both Objet and MakerBot, is the number one 3D printer manufacturer with the RepRap DIY kit in a close second. Ultimaker proves its popularity, however, by coming in third place and beating 3D systems for the placement.

    These Are The Top 10 Trending 3D Printers Of January

    As for the number of printers on 3D Hubs, the site reports that it now catalogues 2,500 3D printers from all over the world. That means there are 2,500 individuals, companies and maker spaces making their presence known on the Web. This will hopefully lead to more people getting access to 3D printers and bringing this transformative technology even more into the mainstream.

    These Are The Top 10 Trending 3D Printers Of January

    Read the full January report here if you want to see more info, including popular materials and a breakdown of popular 3D printers by region.

    Image via Ultimaker

  • These Are The Top 10 Trending 3D Printers Of December

    3D printers are starting to pop up all over the place, but not everybody has access to their own just yet. 3D Hubs seeks to rectify that by creating a place where 3D printer owners can list their own printers, and invite those who do not own one to use theirs. It’s quite elegant really, and it gives us a pretty good look at which 3D printers are popular as an added bonus.

    For the past few months, 3D Hubs has used its 2,000 plus list of registered 3D printers to give us the top 10 trending 3D printers of the month. While it’s not representative of every 3D printer on the planet, it does give us a pretty good idea of which 3D printers are being used by individuals and maker spaces around the world. It should be noted that a model is only included on the list once 20 are registered on 3D Hubs’ Web site.

    Here’s the full list:

    These Are The Top 10 Trending 3D Printers Of December

    It’s interesting to note that Makerbot is absolutely killing it among 3D Hubs users. The Replicator 2 and 2X have both seen explosive growth, and 3D Hubs predicts that that the Replicator 2 will usurp the Ultimaker 2 within the next few months.

    What’s even more exciting is that Kickstarter darling – the Form 1 – shows up in third place in its first month on the chart. As more Kickstarter backers receive their printers and register them on 3D Hubs, we should see its position grow as well.

    What’s nice about this list is that open-source 3D printers make a strong showing. The Ultimaker 2 – a completely open-source 3D printer – is in the number one spot. The RepRap – one of the original open-source 3D printers – makes a strong showing as well. It will get even better as more open source printers join the list.

    [Image: Ultimaker]
    [h/t: 3ders]

  • Here’s What People Are Using 3D Printers For

    3D printers are no longer the playthings of industry. Hobbyists and regular Joes all around the world are now discovering the joys of 3D printing through the proliferation of cheap printers. That means 3D printers are now being used to create more things, but what kind of things?

    3D Hubs, a 3D printer owner community, has published a study using the data is has collected over the past year from 1,163 printers. Using this data, they have put together a report on how 3D printers are being used.

    To start us off, let’s look at what people are using 3D printers for. Unsurprisingly, most people are still using 3D printers to make prototypes. After that, gadgets, scale models, gifts and phone add-ons round out the top five. Interestingly enough, toys are being made the least despite 3D printers having proven that they can make excellent (if not creepy) toys.

    Here's What People Are Using 3D Printers For

    The color category is a little more interesting as there’s far more variety in the amount of colored plastics available. Despite the variety, the top five colors are white, blue, red, green and black. It’s not until further down the list that you start to see more unique colors, like glow in the dark materials.

    Here's What People Are Using 3D Printers For

    There may be a variety of colors available, but nothing can beat the variety of 3D printer hardware currently on the market. In this category, you can see that the big players like Ultimaker, MarketBot and RepRap dominate the playing field, but there are a lot of people rocking less established 3D printers as well.

    Here's What People Are Using 3D Printers For

    Finally, here’s a look at 3D printer distribution across Europe, North and South America. Most 3D Hubs users are based in Europe, but North America represents with a strong showing in MakerBot Replicator ownership.

    Here's What People Are Using 3D Printers For

    3D Hubs has some other statistics, including a breakdown of the kinds of plastic people use, in the study. You can check it out here.

    [h/t: 3ders]
    [Image: 3D Hubs]