3d Scanner Market Trend – Revisualising the World

A 3D scanner is integral to the process of determining the shape and volume of an object in 3-dimensional space in real-time. 3D scanners have gained impressive cognizance in light of their expansive end-use applications across a variety of fields, which are inclusive of but not limited to automotive, aerospace and defense, architecture and construction, healthcare, mining, energy, and power, which is one the core factors that are expected to drive the 3D scanner market during the near future.

The other aspect that is expected to augment the swift growth of the 3D scanner market is that of the emergent trend of augmented reality due to the breakneck speed at which virtual reality technologies are being developed enabling it as a constitutive aspect of applications across a variety of fields that also extend to entertainment and gaming. Further with the advent of COVID 19, it has become a strategic imperative of businesses across the world to shift towards more advanced virtual reality solutions.

ICT Goods Imports as Percentage of the Economy's Total Goods Imports –  Developing Economies

Source: UNCTAD

In 2020, a Chinese medical imaging equipment company called XpectVision Technology has reportedly concluded an RMB150 million (US$21.46 million) series B+ round led by CCB Healthcare Industry Fund, along with SeptWolves Ventures. With nearly 400 invention patents its main focus is on the semiconductor manufacturing process and covers a large number of underlying core technologies such as integrated circuit design, in the field of industries the organization boasts a portfolio of core products like 3D scanner modeling system. Earlier in 2019, at the TCT Asia Exhibition, Thor3D, a Russian developer of hand-held 3D scanners and best known for being the first company to introduce a wireless, hand-held scanner, among others had reportedly announced the unveiling of Calibry it's a newest hand-held 3D scanner that can reportedly capture medium to large objects with the capability to collect 3M points per seconds. It also features a proprietary camera that was then pending a patent and a built-in touchscreen for convenience. Furthermore, the developing economies have also witnessed several startups in the 3D scanner space as exemplified by the founding of Lyfsize in 2019 in Bangalore, India which reportedly provides e3D body scanning technology for mobile.

Earlier in 2018 the founding of a company that provides hardware related to 3D sensing called Ansi Jiang Shenzhen Science and Technology Co., Ltd. through its 3D camera called MOGO that is reportedly capable of providing 3D depth data acquisition with a 3D depth map, 3D face recognition algorithm and 3D modeling. The organization is so also known to cater to a myriad of applications, which are inclusive of but not limited to AI, AR/VR, automotive, financial security, healthcare, industrial measurement, mobile phones, PCs, robotics, security monitoring, smart home, smart retail, among others. Further, in January 2020, it was reported that it has as received approximately 100 million yuan in Series A investment led by Beijing Qingkong Jinxin Capital, along with Alchemy Capital, Hangzhou Fulin Venture Capital Fund and Lihe Science and Technology Fund, to facilitate further research and development and production capacity expansion. Thus, form the aforesaid developments in developing economies alone it is discernible that the 3D scanner market is anticipated to witness substantial growth during the next few years.

Manufacturing, Value Added (% of Global GDP)

Source: WORLD BANK

The Manufacturing Sector Is Expected to Hold a Significant Market Share of the 3d Scanner Market Consequently Driving It to Stratospheric Heights.

The semiconductors industry has been playing an indispensable role in facilitating the manufacturing sector's digitization, automation, enhancing its efficiency thereby upholding its essential role in sustaining national economies. Delving further into the performance of the manufacturing sector it should be noted that in the first quarter of 2019 the global manufacturing output increased by 2.5 % in comparison to the same period of 2018. Considering the same period North Americas’ manufacturing output increased by 1.8 %. With regards to Austria, the manufacturing output rose by 4.1%, Belgium by 4.1%, Estonia by 5.8%, Lithuania by 5.5 %, and 7.0% in Slovakia. Shifting towards the orient, China’s manufacturing output in the first quarter of 2019 portraying a strong expansion pace since 2015 achieved a growth rate of 7.3 %. Growth rates of Basic metals (+8.9 %), computer electronics (+9.0 %), and machinery (+9.8 %) have reportedly contributed to Chinas overall economic performance. However, considering the first quarter of 2020, albeit a sharp decline of 6 % of global manufacturing output growth and an unprecedented decline that was registered by China dropping to 14.1 % due to lockdown measures necessitated by COVID-19 pandemic, certain countries showed healthy growth. To this end, it should be noted that growths were registered by Ecuador (1.4%), Finland (1.1%), Ireland (8.0%), Malta (8.6%), Philippines (1.4%), Poland (0.9%), Vietnam (7.9%), among others.

Thus, such a promising sector that has been the bastion of innovation and progress has also accommodated a myriad of applications pertaining to 3D sensors thereby not only facilitating seamless operations, among others but also has been a key driver of the 3D scanner market growth. To this end, there have been quite a few developments in the 3D scanner space. A Canadian measurement system manufacturer Creaform had in June 2020 reportedly launched MetraSCAN that is intended for metrology and manufacturing professionals and features optical coordinate measurement machine (CMM) which reportedly can withstand any kind of product condition inclusive of floor vibration and part movement. Further, the device can be reportedly used in any stage of the manufacturing process, which is inclusive of maintenance and repair, product design, QC and QA, as well as for reverse engineering. Another noteworthy mention is that of the Airbus’s strategic decision to install two measuring units that are robot-assisted at its newly opened Manufacturing Milling Centre (MMC) in Hamburg, in May 2020. The specialty of the is measuring units is that they employ  3D scanners from GOM, which is a leading provider of hardware and software for automated 3D coordinate measuring technology,  that was acquired by ZEISS in April 2019 to expand its industrial metrology and quality assurance portfolio.