Aftermarket Companies Seeks New Opportunities in 3D Printing

RemaxAsia Expo, which has become the world’s largest show for printing consumable industry, moved to a new venue and brings new value for the aftermarket this year. At the show, some aftermarket exhibitors introduced their 3D printing products as a new growth opportunity.

This year, the show was held in Zhuhai International Convention & Exhibition Center, China, from October 16-18. As 3D printing is growing fast worldwide and many 2D printing businesses are entering into 3D printing industry, the show provides a particular pavilion for 3D printing products this year. Also, five seminars about 3D printing took place at the exhibition hall.

In addition to displaying traditional printing consumable products, the aftermarket exhibitors involving in 3D printing also introduced their new 3D printing products at the show.

Print-Rite unveiled its newest 3D printers, ColiDo Duo 1.0, at the show.  When asked what is its future strategy in this area, Arnald Ho, Chairman of Print-Rite, told Recycling Times, “That’s the extension of our current business. The worldwide 2D printing market, particularly the office printing market, is declining. We see market opportunity in 3D printing. I believe 3D printing will become more popular in next 5-10years. The consumer market of 3D printing has no popular brands at the moment. It’s the right moment to start promoting our products, services, and our brand.”

Another aftermarket company in China,  Foshan Shunde Cobol Industrial Co., Ltd. (Cobol) , which has a history of 20 years also introduced its newest 3D printing products. “Although our traditional printing supplies products still saw a 10% growth year-on-year in sales revenue in the first half of this year, we are facing many challenges” , Miss Manhua Gan, marketing manager of Cobol told Recycling Times at the show, “The continuing price war is the biggest threat for us, as many small companies are offering very cheap and low-quality products. For example, some companies offer a toner cartridge priced at lower than RMB 28 . Now our major strategic solution to the severe competition is seeking closer cooperation with our suppliers and try to reduce the cost and compete for larger clients such as government department who care more about product quality and tender for printing supplies. Also, we are seeking other areas to expand, such as 3D printing. But we will probably focus on 3D printing supplies in the future. ”