I did some research into 3D printing and my conclusion was that there is a very limited market for 3D printing at home today. The technical requirements to produce a "printable" 3D object is not something that most people would understand. Think about this… it's more than just a 3D object you have to create. Because of the way the printers work, you also have to make the object structurally sound as it's being printed or it may fall over or collapse as it's being printed. Heaven forbid, most consumers just have a tough time creating a 2D page for print (as we all know) never less an object that has to withstand being built one layer at a time.
However, I do think there may be a market someday soon if companies start supplying ready made 3D models that just have to be downloaded and printed. Then when you need a part, or want to create a little toy or whatever, you wouldn't need to know much more than how to hit the "Print" command.
Also… one last observation on the "desktop" 3D market. There are a ton of cheap (<$2000) 3D printers available. Most from new start-ups. But, the biggest drawback to the cheaper models is the resolution of the printers. I would equate them to almost dot matrix like output and they are not able to produce very good detail. You need to spend $50K or more to really get into higher quality printers that produce something that is of acceptable quality for most things.
I do think this market will be reality someday… history says it will happen, however, I think most of the hype today for the consumer 3D market is just that… hype.
