MakerBot Reaches Milestone: 100,000 3D Printers Sold Worldwide

From PRNewswire.com

By Janice Lai

HONG KONG, April 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratasys Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) , the 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company, today announced that MakerBot, a global leader in the desktop 3D printing industry, has sold more than 100,000 3D printers worldwide. By providing the most accessible and easy-to-use 3D printing experience, MakerBot is the first company in the 3D printing industry to reach this important milestone.

"Being the first company to have sold 100,000 3D printers is a major milestone for MakerBot and the entire industry," saidJonathan Jaglom, CEO at MakerBot. "MakerBot has made 3D printing more accessible and today is empowering businesses and educators to redefine what's possible. What was once a product used only by makers and hobbyists has matured significantly and become an indispensible tool that is changing the way students learn and businesses innovate."

MakerBot Milestones
MakerBot was one of the first companies to make 3D printing accessible and affordable. Since its founding in 2009, MakerBot has consistently pushed the boundaries of what's possible with 3D printing and has introduced many industry firsts. Thingiverse was the first platform where anyone could share 3D designs and launched even before MakerBot was founded. In 2009, MakerBot introduced its first 3D printer, the Cupcake CNC, at SXSW. In 2010, MakerBot became the first company to present a 3D printer at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Now, 3D printing is its own category at CES with a myriad of 3D printing companies from around the world in attendance each year.  

After being acquired by Stratasys in 2013, MakerBot introduced its Fifth Generation 3D Printers in 2014, which were the first Wi-Fi connected desktop 3D printers with a swappable Smart Extruder. Today, out of the 100,000 3D Printers MakerBot has sold, over 40,000 are Wi-Fi connected. Thingiverse also recently hit a major milestone when it announced one million uploads to its site in October 2015.

MakerBot customers have created a range of amazing designs over the years that have changed industries and lives. For example, a woodworker from Johannesburg, South Africa, and a theatrical prop designer from Seattle, Washington were able to work together across 10,000 miles to create a prosthetic hand that has been used to better the lives of hundreds of people across the globe. The Feinstein Institute is also using 3D printing to solve problems in the medical field by 3D printing tracheal replicas to perfect the construction of tissues they will use in their patients.