Solido plans to formally announce to the CAD media a much lower price for its SD300 Pro. The company has lined up SolidWorks co-founder Scott Harris (now on the Solido board of directors) and 3D printer expert Terry Wohlers to talk about the 3D printer at a press event adjacent to next week's SolidWorks World 2010 in Anaheim CA USA.
At the press event, the price of the 3D printer will be slashed from around $12,000 (source) to "considerably less than $5,000."
I wonder if this changes HP's pricing plans for the $20,000 Stratasys 3D printer it plans to rebadge later this year? 3D printers are w-a-y too expensive for the tiny models they produce. Although kits are available for $750, I figure we need to see the base price of commercial printers fall to $1,999 before they can become commonplace.
At the press event, the price of the 3D printer will be slashed from around $12,000 (source) to "considerably less than $5,000."
I wonder if this changes HP's pricing plans for the $20,000 Stratasys 3D printer it plans to rebadge later this year? 3D printers are w-a-y too expensive for the tiny models they produce. Although kits are available for $750, I figure we need to see the base price of commercial printers fall to $1,999 before they can become commonplace.
Imagine the smiles on the faces of people that purchased SD300 Pro printers at the $12K price point.
Posted by: John | Jan 25, 2010 at 12:39 PM
Ralph - thanks for the kind words! Based on your last paragraph, I think you're going to be pretty excited by our price announcement at SolidWorks World!
Posted by: John-Scott Dixon | Jan 25, 2010 at 12:49 PM
Ralph I disagree. I think the mass market point is around the $4500 mark for a build envelope of 200x200x150mm. At this level, and assuming the build material is reasonable then this will meet the requirements of a significant chunk of the market currently using bureau.
I liken this to the break even for colour laser printing. A4 colour for under £4000 back in 1995/6 was my tipping point. Within 2 years we had machines on the market with the same specs for under £300.
Personally I'm waiting to see what HP do. The Solido process is LOM based so very labour intensive (albeit very office friendly). If the two start a price war, great!
Posted by: Kevin Quigley | Jan 25, 2010 at 01:32 PM
"Imagine the smiles on the faces of people that purchased SD300 Pro printers at the $12K price point."
I would have smiled, means next buy will be much cheaper.
Posted by: LL | Jan 27, 2010 at 10:57 AM