The 3-D Printing Bubble May Have Burst.

Despite these issues, analysts remain optimistic. In 2013, Wohlers Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in 3-D printing, predicted (based on a detailed survey of 85 to 90 of some of the largest parts providers in the world) that the sector would grow to $10.8 billion by 2021. Rather than undercutting that figure in the wake of the bad news in 2015, the firm now forecasts even greater and faster growth, with the industry reaching $21.2 billion in 2020. That’s because while the firm is skeptical about the value of low-end, consumer-oriented printers—“You can only make so many lime-green Yoda heads before you get a little bored and wonder, Why did I buy this 3-D printer?” says Wohlers senior consultant Tim Caffrey—the results of their survey suggest that more and more industrial clients will be buying and implementing high-end, expensive 3-D printers.

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Despite Jaglom’s excitement about the Thingiverse API, its unveiling appears to have done little to stabilize MakerBot or reassure investors. On April 25—exactly two weeks after the API announcement—MakerBot laid off the majority of its remaining factory workers, choosing to outsource the production of its printers. Over the next month, Stratasys’s stock fell almost 14 percent, and 3D Systems’s shares tumbled twice as far.

Investors may have realized that if the 3-D printing industry needs to rely on traditional manufacturing to produce its wares, there will be no revolution.

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A loooooong time ago we decided not to create a 3D printer during what seemed like a frenzy, it was a race to the bottom for pricing, and a also a ton of “sub-$500” failed KickStarters ruined the price expectations. Instead, we thought that the projects and electronics that can work -with- 3D printers was where it was at, as the article said, you can only print so many “lime-green Yoda heads“. However, you should print at least a few, they’re really neat.