Context, an organisation tracking ICT channel sales and prices, have released a quarterly statistic, reporting a 114% year-on-year growth in shipments of desktop 3D printers priced under $ 5,000.

Global shipments of desktop devices rose by 24% in the first quarter of 2015. North America clearly takes the lead position, representing 63% of all global shipments going into this region, followed by Western Europe with 20%. The top five manufacturers during that period were XYZPrinting (da Vinci), 3D Systems (Cube), M3D (The Micro), Stratasys (MakerBot) and Ultimaker.

With XYzprinting, 3D Systems and Ultimaker showing good year- on-year growth, Stratasys subsidiary MakerBot struggled. M3D, who successfully closed their Kickstarter campaign for The Micro last year, with over 10,800 pre-orders worth $ 3.4 million, has shipped their 3D printers now.