As reported by The China Post:

Since its entry into China in 1993, Aurora, an electronics and office supplies retail giant, has established itself in over 500 locations in the Chinese market, in addition to employing a full force of product service and sales personnel.

The company stated that it was chosen by Stratasys to act as its sole distributor in China due to its considerable retail coverage.

Aurora is poised to distribute Stratasys’s Idea line of 3D printers, consisting of the entry-level Mojo, and the larger uPrint SE and uPrint SE Plus variants. The Idea line of 3D printers currently ranges from US$10,000 to US$20,000 in the U.S. market.

Propelled by encouraging prospects, shares of Aurora yesterday rocketed to NT$62.1, gaining NT$4, or 7 percent, the maximum intraday movement allowed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange, while retaining its soaring performance at the end of yesterday’s trading.

3D Printing News

A roundup of the top 3D printing news from May 13 to May 18:

Monday, May 13

• 3D Printing Materials: From Plastic to Metal to Wood and Beyond
• Even Mega’s Kim Dotcom Doesn’t Want 3D Printed Guns

Wednesday, May 15

• Alliance Announces New 3D Printing Innovation Centers in China

Thursday, May 16

• Startup Launches Teleport It 3D to Revolutionize P2P 3D Printing

Friday, May 17

• Michigan Tech Launches 3D Printers for Peace Contest
• Startup Azavy Launches AirBnB Marketplace for 3D Printing

Saturday, May 18

• Michael Ian Black Tweets About 3D Printing – Our Response
• Tinkercad Acquired by Autodesk: Free 3D Design Software Lives On!

Photo by lizzk used under Creative Commons license.

3D Printing Innovation Centers in China

Investments in 3D printing innovation are increasing. President Obama last week announced a $200 million program to develop 3D printing institutes. Now a Chinese group plans to build 10 innovation centers focused on 3D printing.

Luo Jun, CEO of the Asian Manufacturing Association (AMA) and executive secretary-general of the China 3D Printing Technology Industry Alliance, told the Global Times ”Over the past 30 years, 3D printing technology has already been applied in the aerospace, automotive and biomedical industries, and now the conditions are ripe for it to scale up.”

Although 3D printing can create complex designs, it cannot compete today with the cost efficiences of traditional manufacturing. The innovation centers are therefore looking to develop complementary manufacturing processes.

The alliance will build 10 innovation centers at a cost of 20 million yuan ($3.3 million) for each.

“China can consider developing an industry-led strategic transformation plan to focus on technological innovation and differentiation. It can enact policies that bring in capital and technology-­intensive industries from developed countries and it should work on improving how to utilize innovations imported from other countries,” Ricky Tung, co-leader of the Manufacturing Industry Group at auditing and consulting firm Deloitte China, told the Global Times. ”Going forward, (China) should continue to improve incentive mechanisms to cultivate technical leaders and promote deeper cooperation between enterprises and academic institutions,” said Tung.

Via Global Times.

Photo by TechYizu used under Creative Commons license.

A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from October 29 to November 3.

In the video below, Bloomberg Businessweek shares 3D printing trends, including key highlights:

• The rapid drop in prices for 3D printers is increasing adoption.
• Public company performance. For example, 3D Systems stock is up 200%.
• The potential “black swan” impact on Asia manufacturing.

The reporter draws an analogy to the early 1980s when personal computers started to become mainstream.

The key question: will 3D printers kill manufacturing growth in Asia? A UBS analyst believes 3D printing will tilt the economic advantage back toward the U.S. and other western countries.

Watch the full video below, or go to Bloomberg Businessweek:

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Shenzhen, China photo by mwiththeat used under Creative Commons license.