Prodways Group – a French manufacturer of 3D printers, announced the end of sales of its small 3D wax and resin printers dedicated to the jewelry market. The company will now shift resources to large-format, industrial-grade 3D printers, which the company says are much more profitable. This strategic decision was made after poor sales results of small 3D jewelry printers sold under the Solidscape brand. 3D printers in this series enjoyed low demand and generated significant operating losses.
According to Prodways, discontinuing operations under the Solidscape brand will have a positive impact on profitability and financial performance. In the third quarter of 2023, the company reported revenues of EUR 15.9 million, representing a decline of -7.6% year-on-year. The closure of the 3D jewelry printing business will be completed by the end of summer 2024. The impact of depreciation on the 2023 financial statements is estimated to be approximately EUR 15 million, with associated costs of just over EUR 1 million, mainly in the first half of the year .
Since acquiring Solidscape in 2018, Prodways has launched a range of 3D printers for the production of wax and resin jewelry models. Optimized for cast precious metals such as gold and platinum, they included the S3Duo, S325, S325+ and MUSE models. Despite the general increase in demand for 3D printers in the jewelry sector, the high price of the devices (at EUR 15,000) made them unattractive to customers.
The company will continue to develop larger 3D printers using MovinLight technology, as it believes that development in this segment is easier to activate and generates higher profitability. Prodways has a strong position in the medical sector and additionally intends to focus on industrial applications such as aeronautics.
Source: www.prodways-group.com