Aurora Group of Taiwan enters 3D printing market

Want China Times, CNA 2013-12-04

An Aurora F1 3D printer. (Photo/CNA)

The Aurora Group, Taiwan's leading manufacturer of office furniture and automation equipment, on Tuesday unveiled a three-dimensional printer for business use.

Developed jointly with the state-run Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the Aurora F1 3D printer will go on sale next month in 166 Aurora stores at a price of under NT$100,000 (US$3,400), according to the company.

Print quality and stability can be achieved without connecting the printer to a computer, using an SD card. The printer was built with the use of fused deposition modeling technology and a biodegradable plastic material called Polylactic acid.

The target market comprises mainly consumer electronics manufacturers, professional designers and academic institutions in Taiwan, which amount to some 200,000 customers, said Alice Lin, executive director of the Aurora Group.

"We will bring our distribution advantage to bear on the new business, creating higher value for our customers," Lin said at the product launch.

The F1 printer will be distributed later in overseas markets such as Japan and the United States, according to Tony Tsai, senior division manager of the company's 3D printing business department, but did not give a timeframe.

Aurora, in partnership with the ITRI, is also aiming to launch a cloud-based service for office applications, hopefully by the second half of 2014, Tsai said.

In September, Aurora inked an agreement with US 3D printer maker Stratasys to become the sole distributor of the American firm's Idea line of 3D printers in China.

With the unveiling of the F1, dealers forecast that Aurora's 3D printer sales in Taiwan and China will account for 10% to 15% of the group's total revenues in three years.

Global shipments of 3D printers priced at less than US$100,000 will show 49% annual growth this year, reaching 56,507 units, market research company Gartner forecast in an October report.

Shipments will increase further by 75% next year to 98,065 units, followed by a near doubling of unit shipments in 2015, Gartner said.

"The 3D printer market has reached its inflection point," said Pete Basiliere, a research director at Gartner.

"While still a nascent market, with hype outpacing the technical realities, the speed of development and rise in buyer interest are pressing hardware, software and service providers to offer easier-to-use tools and materials that produce consistently high-quality results," he said in the report.