There’s always a cheaper fish

Hungry dogs quickly become fat cats. And are chased away by another hungry dogs. And repeat.

FDM / FFF technology seemed to have been „finished” for a long time. For several years, the only real innovations in this segment were related exclusively to new materials (which were becoming more and more „efficient”, „durable”, and „high-something”) and software (which was becoming increasingly easy to use, more intuitive, and automated).

Other than that — after the failure of consumer 3D printers, all OEM manufacturers switched to producing „industrial-grade machines”, the consequence of which was that 3D printing stopped being called 3D printing and became Additive Manufacturing.

Then 2022 happened, and Bambu Lab appeared…

And suddenly it turned out that FDM / FFF was not finished at all!

• That something different could be done.

• That it was possible to print much-much faster.

• That it was possible to print much-much faster and in even better quality.

• That all these cloud solutions are only now making sense — only now they are starting to be really useful.

Bambu Lab turned the desktop 3D printing industry upside down. It also shook the facades of the truly industrial FDM / FFF segment, which saw in the Chinese company a potential threat — for the first time since the early days of MakerBot Industries.

Everyone started chasing Bambu Lab, hastily changing the firmware in their 3D printers and accelerating speed, to never be left behind.

But nothing was the same anymore…

The market structure established a few years ago began to shake at its foundations — the previously unbeatable began to suffer their first significant defeats, and the fat cats started to see hunger in their eyes.
Bambu Lab is currently the best desktop 3D printer in the world.

And if you do not need to print really large objects from ABS, PC, PA — it is a real alternative to expensive and serious production systems.

But let me tell you three things:

1. This is not the first time we are dealing with this type of revolution.

2. All this has happened before — just differently.

3. It’s not the end — it’s just the beginning.

Bambu Lab is a sensation here and now. But in some time, someone new will come and do the same. “There’s always a bigger fish” — although in the case of 3D printing, a more appropriate saying is — “there’s always a cheaper fish”.

Revolution #1 — Adrian Bowyer