Whenever I sit down to write our “year in review” articles, I can’t help but notice that coincidentally, these articles are prepared right after Formnext – a major gathering for the additive manufacturing industry. This may seem strange but since I usually leave that event pumped with positive energy and inspiration, it is tempting to limit what happened in eleven months to just one week. And just before writing a romance novel about our industry, the analyst in me tells the optimist part of myself: think twice – this industry is more than glitz and glamour.
This editorial perspective concerns 2024 and the outlook for 2025 at that time. Published online in January 2025, it places the companies and projects discussed in their historical context.
And that’s what I did. I thought twice – and more. And the more I think…
…the more I see “financial stress”
Is that different from what I highlighted in our 2023 review? Not really. At Formnext 2024, despite increased attendance, I noticed empty spaces and absent exhibitors. Those observations did not establish that every absence was caused by financial difficulties.
Some exhibitors had chosen smaller stands. Oerlikon AM told me that its reorganisation towards the US market no longer justified a very large booth in its view. Fair enough.
Desktop Metal occupied a discreet space on Nano Dimension’s stand. At that point, the companies had announced an acquisition agreement in July 2024; Nano Dimension should therefore not yet have been described as its parent company.
Nexa3D was among the absentees. Its recent expansion included AddiFab and XYZprinting’s SLS business, acquired in 2023, followed by Essentium’s assets in January 2024. Meanwhile, 3D-Fuel announced its return to independence on 30 July 2024. In exchanges reported at the time, Nexa3D said it was focusing on its organisation and preparing a headquarters move. Absence from the show alone did not establish insolvency.
Beyond Formnext, restructurings, asset sales and discontinued activities featured in our 2024 coverage. These events describe different situations; they do not provide a quantified balance of closures and new entrants.
Two examples illustrate the distinction. ARMOR GROUP announced the closure of its KIMYA filament and AM activity in December 2024. Sigma Additive Solutions, meanwhile, sold its quality assurance software assets to Divergent in January 2024. Selling an activity does not necessarily mean the whole company has ceased to exist.
Our coverage also featured nPower Technologies, VRC Metal Systems, Verne Additive Manufacturing Labs, Ecogensus, Fluent Metal and Xenia. These were companies and initiatives highlighted by our editorial team, not a list of businesses all founded in 2024.
Acquisitions also continue to shape the industry. Motives vary: diversification, access to technology, growth or financial consolidation. Financial stability is prominent in my view of 2024, without being the sole explanation for every transaction.
Following our review of transactions in 2023, the selection below covers fifteen operations announced or completed in 2024. It distinguishes pending agreements, asset acquisitions and equity investments, rather than providing an exhaustive market census.
Separately, Sandvik announced in September 2024 that it intended to exit its approximately 30% minority stake in BEAMIT. The announcement concerned neither a majority holding nor an already completed divestment. It was unrelated to the Siemens–Altair transaction. The return to independence of 3D-Fuel, discussed above, was likewise separate from the Anzu–voxeljet agreement.
I expect consolidation to continue. The experiences of businesses that grow through bootstrapping seem particularly worth following. That is a judgement drawn from my conversations, not proof that self-funding always makes a business more stable than venture capital.
…the more I realize that “applications become a unique selling point”
Throughout the year, most of my interactions with 3D printer manufacturers were the same: they didn’t necessarily highlight the capabilities of their 3D printers but rather the applications a specific 3D printer could deliver.
It comes down to what we once told you: applications make the industry evolve in a virtuous circle: “the more designers design products, the more applications we will have. The more applications there are, the more materials will be developed, and the more printers will evolve or be introduced to the market.” And in the end, a client will find themselves buying a complete package of solutions from an OEM.
At the end of 2024, it was still too early to call this a general trend. The growing emphasis on applications was one of the points to watch in 2025.
…the more I see defence as a sector to watch for AM
“In a world of renewed conflicts and geopolitical rivalries, defence requires visionary leadership—including in advanced technologies,” Josep Borrell wrote on 12 October 2024, while serving as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission.
Defence investment raises debate, but its place in the technology announcements of 2024 deserves examination. The charts below describe our editorial coverage by industry, not market shares or total investment. Their scope and categories vary between the two years.
Events such as the Military Additive Manufacturing Summit and Formnext gave increased visibility to AM applications in defence.
Russia’s war against Ukraine contributed to this context. At the end of 2024, I saw reasons to follow defence projects closely in 2025, rather than certainty about their delivery.
In the United States, the Biden administration had requested $849.8 billion for the Department of Defense for fiscal 2025. This covered the whole department: it was neither a dedicated AM budget nor, at the request stage, enacted spending. In its 2025 outlook, Deloitte anticipated investment in unmanned systems, space, advanced air mobility and supply-chain resilience. Those prospects suggested opportunities for AM, whose suitability would still need to be assessed for each application.
In his October 2024 analysis, Josep Borrell noted that the EU hosted five of the fifteen largest global defence contractors by market capitalisation while highlighting the fragmentation of Europe’s market. He cited the European Defence Fund’s €8 billion over seven years for joint research and development projects. This was neither an annual 2025 budget nor funding dedicated entirely to AM.
…the more I see the rise of Asian AM companies
The visibility of Asian AM companies on the exhibition floor also caught our attention. Our Formnext 2024 report examines those observations.
…the more there is uncertainty about what’s next
There was a time when many CEOs and investors kept saying that “There’s never been a better time to be in Additive Manufacturing.” The current market certainly makes it difficult to reiterate these words with confidence but when I see that vertically integrated AM businesses like Domin or Conflux Technology continue to strengthen their positioning, I find some beauty in that uncertainty.
This dossier first appeared in the November/December 2024 edition of 3D ADEPT Mag.
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