Bambu Lab Announces First 3D Scanner S1, Expanding Into Personal Manufacturing

Leiphone reported that the global consumer 3D scanner market was about $3.1 billion in 2025 and is expected to exceed $6.8 billion by 2035, with a compound annual growth rate above 8%. Despite that growth, the category has not produced a true consumer breakout product comparable with 3D printing.

In the manufacturing chain, 3D printing turns virtual designs into physical objects, while 3D scanning turns physical objects into digital models. That process once depended on professional engineers and expensive equipment, creating a barrier for ordinary users. According to Leiphone, AI is now taking over post-scan data processing and automatically completing repair and reconstruction, lowering the last threshold from physical to virtual and accelerating 3D scanning's move toward ordinary users.

Existing products still show a mismatch with consumer demand. Leiphone reported that many devices follow industrial logic, with high prices, complex operation and high learning costs, while scanning, repair and modeling workflows remain fragmented. Professional capability and ease of use are difficult to combine, limiting larger-scale use by merchants and creators.

Bambu Lab's approach in 3D printing has centered on an ecosystem that integrates hardware, software and a model community, which has significantly lowered the barrier to use and helped 3D printers spread into ordinary households, according to Leiphone. The report cited market data: in 2020 the global consumer 3D printing market was only about $1.5 billion and annual shipments had long hovered around 3 million units. After Bambu Lab entered, shipments exceeded 4 million units in 2024 and the market grew to $4.1 billion, a four-year compound annual growth rate of 28%. Bambu Lab reached about 1.2 million units shipped and a 29% share, making it the world's largest.

Leiphone cited an industry view that the S1 is expected to continue Bambu Lab's product approach, maintaining professional-level capabilities while greatly simplifying operation. That could change the existing landscape of the 3D scanning industry and bring the category into a new stage of "low threshold, high ceiling."

Editor's Summary

Bambu Lab's S1 marks its first move into 3D scanning and extends its personal manufacturing portfolio beyond 3D printing, laser cutting and UV printing. The launch comes as the consumer 3D scanner market is forecast to grow, though existing products remain costly and complex. Bambu Lab is betting its integrated hardware-software-community model can lower adoption barriers and reshape the category.