Guotai Haitong: AI expands boundaries, product experience continues to upgrade; content ecosystem and light production demand drive 3D printing capacity expansion.

Guotai Haitong released a research report stating that the 3D printing industry is expected to continue developing along four main lines: overseas expansion-driven growth, price declines, experience upgrades, and application expansion. The mature DIY culture in Europe and the United States provides a solid user base for consumer-grade 3D printing, and Chinese manufacturers continue to expand overseas markets by leveraging supply chain and product innovation advantages. On the product side, high-speed, multi-color, and automated functions are continuously being introduced into lower and mid-price segments, while integration and full-color capabilities further enhance the user experience; AI modeling and the expansion of material systems are driving applications from models and figurines toward home goods, functional components, and other areas. We recommend paying attention to leading manufacturers with advantages in product innovation, global channels, and content ecosystems, as well as companies in the industry chain such as consumables suppliers that benefit from the increase in installed equipment base. Guotai Haitong's main views are as follows: Consumer-grade 3D printing has reached an inflection point toward mass adoption and has become one of the faster-growing segments in the additive manufacturing field In the past, desktop 3D printing involved complex operations and high learning costs, and was mainly aimed at makers, designers, and professional enthusiasts. After the launch of a new generation of products represented by the Bambu Lab X1 series in 2022, functions such as high-speed printing, automatic calibration, multi-color feeding, and model communities gradually became widespread, significantly lowering the barrier to device use. Consumer-grade 3D printing has gradually extended from a professional tool toward a mass consumer product, and the market size has entered a stage of accelerated growth. The demand side is jointly driven by C-end creative consumption and B-end light production, with application scenarios gradually enriching C-end demand has gradually expanded from model enthusiasts to areas such as home DIY, designer toys, home furnishings, education, and personalized consumption. Social media dissemination and model communities have further enhanced user awareness and usage frequency. On the B-end side, low-cost equipment is pushing small-batch manufacturing capabilities down to small and medium-sized enterprises and individual studios. Print farms undertake small-batch, multi-SKU orders through multi-machine clusters, bringing new demand increments to the industry. Supply-side products continue to upgrade, with high speed, multi-color, multi-material, and AI modeling further lowering the barrier to use High-speed printing significantly shortens printing time, multi-color printing improves the visual presentation of finished products, and multi-material compatibility drives applications toward functional components. Functions such as automatic leveling, filament management, and anomaly detection are gradually becoming widespread, reducing manual debugging steps; AI modeling lowers the threshold for content creation and pushes consumer-grade 3D printing toward greater ease of use and automation. Chinese manufacturers dominate global competition, and the importance of ecosystem operations continues to rise as hardware performance converges Bambu Lab, CREALITY, Anycubic, and Elegoo form the main competitive camp in global consumer-grade 3D printing. Among them, Bambu Lab maintains a lead in product experience and software-hardware coordination, CREALITY has a relatively complete product matrix and global channels, Anycubic covers different needs through dual routes of FDM and resin printing, and Elegoo has advantages in resin printing and professional creator scenarios. As functions such as high speed and multi-color become widespread in mainstream price segments, model communities, software services, and consumables systems will become important directions for differentiated competition. Risk warnings: Growth in consumer-grade 3D printing demand and market penetration fall short of expectations; industry competition intensifies and product prices decline more than expected; intellectual property and content compliance risks; overseas trade policies, tariffs, and localized operation risks.