Stratasys Delivers First Shipment of HP-Branded 3D Printers
Event marks milestone in agreement to develop 3D printers for HP
MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Additive fabrication system maker, Stratasys, Inc., (NASDAQ: SSYS), today announced it has delivered its first shipments of HP-branded 3D printers.
Stratasys and HP co-developed the exclusive 3D printer systems, which are being manufactured by Stratasys as part of a global manufacturing agreement with HP (NYSE: HPQ), as announced in January.
HP launched its Designjet 3D products in Europe today, making it the only major manufacturer of 2D (or paper) printers in the 3D printer market. The products will be available this May in five European markets: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
"The agreement to develop and manufacture a product to HP's specification is a milestone for us," says Stratasys CEO Scott Crump. "Today, we're taking a big step in realizing the agreement's potential by demonstrating we can deliver."
"There are millions of 3D designers using 2D printers who are ready to bring their designs to life in 3D," says Santiago Morera, HP's vice president and general manager of its Large Format Printing Business. "Stratasys FDM technology is the ideal platform for HP to enter the 3D MCAD printing market and begin to capitalize on this untapped opportunity."
Technology & Use
Product designers, engineers, and architects who design with CAD (computer aided design) use 3D printers as peripheral devices to "print" or produce a tangible 3D model from plastic or other material to verify the form, fit, and function of designs prior to committing them to production or construction. Designers often seek 3D printers that model with production-grade thermoplastic when they want to best-predict performance of their plastic end-product.
Stratasys manufactures 3D printers under the Dimension brand, and it makes 3D production systems under the Fortus brand. Both product lines, as well as the HP-branded 3D printers employ Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology, which creates three-dimensional plastic models directly from a CAD file. The patented process creates parts by extruding semi-molten plastic in thin layers to "grow" the part, layer by layer. The process of producing a part layer-by-layer is known generically as "additive fabrication" or "additive manufacturing."
Pioneer & Leader
The term "3D printer" was coined by Stratasys when it introduced its first compact system co-developed with IBM in the mid 1990s. 3D printer is now widely used to describe a segment of additive fabrication machines that generally connotes a compact, low-price unit that is quick and easy to operate. Stratasys was an early pioneer of the additive fabrication industry as well as its 3D printer segment. The company has a seven-year track record as the industry's unit sales leader, and it has an industry market share of 43 percent, as well as a market share of more than 50 percent for the 3D printer segment. The company's ongoing leadership demonstrates customers' long-term satisfaction with its products and FDM technology.
The technology to produce 3D models directly from a digital design has been commercial for more than 20 years, but recent advances in 3D printers have dramatically reduced their cost and improved ease-of-use and reliability. Stratasys introduced its Dimension 3D printer line in 2002, with the first printer priced under $30,000. Early last year, Dimension broke the $15,000 (USD) barrier with its office-friendly uPrint, which fits on a desktop.
HP's Graphic Solutions Business - part of the company's $24 billion Imaging and Printing Group - executed the distribution agreement with Stratasys. HP is a leading provider of Designjet and Scitex large-format printing solutions, Indigo digital solutions for commercial and industrial printing, inkjet high-speed production solutions and specialty printing systems.
Stratasys, Inc., Minneapolis, manufactures additive fabrication machines for prototyping and manufacturing plastic parts under the brands Fortus 3D Production Systems and Dimension 3D Printers. The company operates RedEye On Demand, an online service for part prototyping and production. Stratasys also manufactures 3D printers for HP, sold under the brand Designjet 3D. According to Wohlers Report 2009, Stratasys supplied 43 percent of all additive fabrication systems installed worldwide in 2008, making it the unit market leader for the seventh consecutive year. Stratasys patented and owns the process known as FDM. The process creates functional prototypes and manufactured goods directly from any 3D CAD program, using high-performance industrial thermoplastics. The company holds more than 280 granted or pending additive fabrication patents globally. Stratasys products are used in the aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, business & industrial equipment, education, architecture, and consumer-product industries. Online at: www.Stratasys.com
Dimension, a brand of 3D printers by Stratasys, offers computer-aided-design (CAD) users a low-cost, networked alternative for building functional 3D models from the desktop. The printers build models layer-by-layer using ABS plastic, one of the most widely used thermoplastics in today's injection-molded products. Dimension 3D printers allow users to evaluate design concepts and test models for form, fit, and function. Online at: www.DimensionPrinting.com
Fortus is a brand of Stratasys, Inc., formerly known as the FDM Group. Fortus offers a line of 3D production systems used for direct digital manufacturing and precision rapid prototyping. Fortus systems create manufactured goods or prototypes from industrial thermoplastics, including ABS, polycarbonate, PPSF, blends, and ULTEM* 9085. Online at: www.Fortus.com
Fortus is a trademark, and Dimension, Stratasys, uPrint, and FDM are registered trademarks of Stratasys, Inc. Designjet 3D and HP are trademarks of Hewlett-Packard.
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Forward Looking Statements
All statements herein that are not historical facts or that include such words as "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "estimates," "vision," "could," "potential," "planning" or "believes" or similar words constitute forward-looking statements covered by the safe harbor protection of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except for the historical information herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.These include statements regarding projected revenue and income in future quarters; the size of the 3D printing market; our objectives for the marketing and sale of our Dimension(R) and uPrint 3D Printers and our FortusTM 3D Production Systems, particularly for use in direct digital manufacturing (DDM);our agreement with HP to expand the distribution and sales of our 3D printers the demand for our proprietary consumables; the expansion of our paid parts service; and our beliefs with respect to the growth in the demand for our products. Other risks and uncertainties that may affect our business include our ability to penetrate the 3D printing market; the success of our distribution agreement with HP; our ability to achieve the growth rates experienced in preceding quarters; our ability to introduce, produce and market new materials, such as ABSplus and ABS-M30, and the market acceptance of these and other materials; the impact of competitive products and pricing; our timely development of new products and materials and market acceptance of those products and materials; the success of our recent R&D initiative to expand the DDM capabilities of our core FDM technology and our distribution agreement with HP; and the success of our RedEyeOnDemandTM and other paid parts services. Actual results may differ from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements. These statements represent beliefs and expectations only as of the date they were made. We may elect to update forward-looking statements, but we expressly disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our beliefs and expectations change. In addition to the statements described above, such forward-looking statements are subject to the risks and uncertainties described more fully in our reports filed or to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
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Source: Stratasys, Inc.
Released April 19, 2010