Ceramic AM market shifts toward services as production scales
Pre-orders for Ceramic AM Market 2026 report available at £500 discount (£3,990) until March 24th release
The technical ceramic additive manufacturing market reached $186.5 million in 2025, growing 13.5% year-on-year. More significantly, the market structure has fundamentally shifted: services revenue ($75.8 million, +22.3% YoY) now nearly matches hardware ($77.6 million, +8.2%), signaling a transition from equipment-driven to production-driven growth. These are the top-level findings from VoxelMatters’ latest report on the Ceramic AM market, based on full-year 2025 data and featuring updated projections through 2030.
These key trends reflect that real adoption is taking place in ceramic AM. Final parts now account for over 50% of service bureau output—up from a fraction just years ago. Production and tooling combined account for more than three-quarters of all ceramic AM parts produced. Sinto’s late-2025 acquisition of Bosch Advanced Ceramics underscores where major hardware manufacturers see the next value: not just in selling printers, but also in running production—either directly or through key service partners. In addition, these figures do not include internal production of parts and components (and tools) by vertical end-users, making ceramic AM even more production-driven.
Hardware market fragments
Hardware revenues continued to grow in 2025, but at a slower pace than manufacturers had anticipated. The competitive landscape, however, has evolved quite significantly.
Vat photopolymerization remains dominant, led by 3DCeram and Lithoz, but Asian competitors from China, Japan, and South Korea are gaining share with lower-cost industrial systems, especially in China. In fact, APAC as a whole now leads in hardware unit sales.
Binder jetting underwent major restructuring—Desktop Metal’s ceramic business was relaunched with a stronger focus, while Roland entered as a new competitor. Material jetting is accelerating, with XJet pivoting to serial production and newer entrants like D3-AM expanding material capabilities.
Time for silicon nitride
One feature that distinguishes the ceramic AM materials market from polymer or metal AM is that hardware manufacturers are often the primary suppliers of materials, particularly in VPP and material jetting. In binder jetting, third-party powder suppliers are shipping increasing volumes as the installed base grows.
Alumina and zirconia remain the most widely used materials in both slurry and bound forms, with silicon carbide accounting for the vast majority of powder volume through high-throughput binder jetting. Among the fastest-growing categories are bioceramics (HA and TCP), and non-oxide materials such as silicon carbide, silicon nitride and boron carbide.
Services, an engine for grounded growth
Specialized ceramic AM service providers are capturing an increasingly large share of the market due to the significant added value they can deliver. Hardware acquisition costs are declining while per-part pricing holds flat or rises modestly—the margin is shifting downstream to application expertise, post-processing, and quality assurance. EMEA hosts the deepest ecosystem of specialists, including Schunk, Steinbach, Sinto ACE, Ceramaret, Alumina Systems, and WZR Ceramic Solutions.
Jetting technologies are overrepresented in services relative to their installed base, as high capital intensity pushes users toward service models rather than in-house investment.
By 2030, total revenue is projected to reach $635 million, with services becoming the largest segment. This forecast has been moderated from the previous edition. Hardware and materials grew more slowly than anticipated, and the expanded coverage of Chinese manufacturers revealed a more competitive, price-sensitive market. Unit volumes remain in line with expectations—the market is physically larger than anticipated but financially leaner, reflecting both improved data coverage and tighter margins.
These, along with several other relevant trends described in the report, point to a market finding its industrial footing and becoming more accessible to a broader range of manufacturers.
Report scope
The Ceramic AM Market 2026 report analyzes 142 companies (42 hardware makers, 44 material suppliers, 56 service providers) across 18,000+ data points. It covers all major ceramic AM technologies (VPP, binder jetting, material jetting, extrusion, screen printing) with granular breakdowns by technology, price segment, vertical, region, and material type.
Pre-orders are available here at £3,990 (£500 discount) until the official release on March 24th, 2026.
