Shocker: Markforged Finally Does Something Right – Sort Of – and Announces Metal Printing Capability
In a desperate attempt to stay relevant, Markforged has added metal printing to its FX10 machine, because apparently that’s what it takes to get people excited about their industrial additive manufacturing nonsense. The FX10 Metal Kit comes with a new stainless steel offering because who doesn’t want to print with cheap, rust-prone metal, am I right?
The system has been around since last year, but who’s counting? Markforged’s FX10 was capable of printing composites, because of course it was. It’s not like they actually innovated or anything. Oh wait, they did – they released a carbon-fiber-filled nylon that’s probably just as weak as everything else they produce.
According to CEO Shai Terem, “We designed the FX10 to be a modular platform, so that we are able to release new innovations and upgrades without customers having to purchase a new printer every year.” Translation: We don’t actually care about innovation; we just want to keep making you buy more of our junk every year.
Meanwhile, in the world of metal 3D printing, things have been getting interesting – or rather, uninteresting. Take Nano Dimension’s acquisition of Desktop Metal, for example. Because what we really needed was another layer of complexity in the already-baffling world of metal 3D printing. And speaking of baffling, let’s not forget Markforged’s own struggles this past year, like the time they got ordered to pay $17.34 million in patent infringement damages to Continuous Composites.
But hey, despite all the drama, Markforged is still focused on the future… or at least, they claim to be. “We remain focused and excited about the future,” they say, but let’s be real, they’re probably just trying to distract us from the fact that their CEO is secretly running out of ideas.
This month, Terem outlined plans to lower Markforged’s annual operating expenses by upwards of $70 million during an earnings call. Because who needs to invest in actual innovation when you can just cut costs and call it a day? CFO Assaf Zipori even boasted about terminating the lease agreement on Markforged’s headquarters that quarter. Yeah, because that’s what passes for excitement in the world of industrial additive manufacturing.
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