Sales of desktop 3D printers, the majority of which are still purchased by companies and schools, skyrocketed last year to the tune of a 69.7% increase.

From 2014 to 2015, the sale of desktop printers with a retail price below $5,000 jumped from 163,999 to 278,385, according to the 21st edition of the Wohlers Report.

Terry Wohlers, president of industry research firm Wohlers Associates, said desktop sales are booming because they’re inexpensive, “yet many of them produce decent models for early concept modeling of new designs.

“It’s similar to when AutoCAD was introduced in the early 1980s,” he said. “It could not do everything the expensive CAD software could do, but it did enough, so the value was good. The same was true with the early PCs compared to the more expensive UNIX workstations and mini computers from DEC and others.”

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here