![]() ![]() The Smart Extruder + is designed to easily ‘swap’ in and out of various Fifth Generation Replicator 3D printer models, including the desktop Replicator, the Replicator Mini, and the larger Replicator Z18. Taking advantage of Stratasys’ 25 years of industry experience, MakerBot collaborated closely with its parent company to refine the Smart Extruder from every possible angle. Stratasys also reported $938 million in losses during its third quarter, due largely to a MakerBot write-down.Ĭould the new Smart Extruder+ finally redeem MakerBot for the past year’s indiscretions? According to the test results and initial reviews from customers, it seems to be, at the very least, an extremely promising start. The lawsuit added insult to injury for the 3D printing startup, which faced two rounds of layoffs and a major ‘restructuring’ in 2015 in an attempt to recover from a series of increasingly reckless and irresponsible management decisions. To make things worse, the Smart Extruder became the subject of a class-action law suit against MakerBot and its parent company Stratasys, which alleged that both companies had known about the Smart Extruder’s defaults, yet continued to sell them anyway. However, it turned out to be so poorly designed and prone to clogging, users reported their 3D printers becoming completely inoperable, forcing some to replace their extruders several times within the initial six-month warranty period. MakerBot’s original ‘Smart Extruder’ concept, launched alongside the 5 th Gen Replicator, was promoted as a novel way to re-load filament and explore new 3D printing materials and processes without having to purchase a whole new 3D printer. One of the most critical components of a 3D printer, the extruder (or ‘hot end’) is tasked with pulling the plastic filament from the roll, heating it, and layering it onto the print. ![]() ![]() Of course, for many MakerBot Replicator customers, 160,000+ hours of testing is the least MakerBot could do after the frustrating and highly publicized failure of its previous Smart Extruder model. How much better, and for how much longer? According to MakerBot, they jointly conducted over 160,000 cumulative hours of testing on the new Smart Extruder+ to demonstrate its reliability over 700 hours using 1.44 miles of PLA, proving to MakerBot customers that they can once again 3D print with confidence. However, it seems reasonable to believe that it's likely one factor - especially now that we're in the second half of the year - even if less of a factor than the overcapacity issue that the company continues to blame as the reason for the decline in capital spending.Makerbot has today introduced the new and improved Smart Extruder+ for its Fifth Generation Replicator 3D printers that has been specifically redesigned and meticulously tested alongside MakerBot parent company Stratasys in order to guarantee better performance over a longer period of time. Through last quarter, Stratasys' management has continued to state that it doesn't believe expected competitive offerings to be a factor in the depressed enterprise capital spending environment in 2015. ![]() HP and Carbon3D both plan to enter the market in 2016 with 3D printers that are significantly faster than the ones currently available. Is competition from expected new entrants a factor? It seems a core question is whether some enterprise customers are delaying purchases to see what competitive offerings are on the horizon from Hewlett-Packard, well-funded start-up Carbon3D, and perhaps others. Goodwill impairment charges for other units may be comingWritedowns on the enterprise side may be on the horizon. Not only is this a low-margin niche, but the consumer space was clearly not ready for prime time - and I continue to believe that it won't be for some time. Management's decision to enter the primarily consumer and educational space via the purchase of MakerBot indicates poor judgment. Given MakerBot had been performing very well through the third quarter of 2014, Stratasys certainly had to kick in additional money for this one-year-plus of solid performance. The buyout deal also included performance-based pay for a period of two years following the acquisition. The total writedown now in the range of $436 million to $476 million is staggering, given that Stratasys paid an initial sum of $403 million for MakerBot in mid-2013. This will be the third writedown for MakerBot, following a $102 million writedown in the fourth quarter of 2014 and a $194 million one in the first quarter of 2015. Yet another goodwill impairment charge for MakerBotStratasys expects to take a goodwill impairment charge of between $140 million and $180 million in the third quarter for its beleaguered desktop unit. ![]()
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