3 ms·

I think you got that backwards. It is also hard to believe that the semiconductor market would be affected significantly by the - in comparison tiny - 3D print

I think you got that backwards. It is also hard to believe that the semiconductor market would be affected significantly by the - in comparison tiny - 3D printing companies.

luma 4y ago
They directly wrote about the problem, it's not the entire market they are moving, just the market for the specific parts they are attempting to buy. They hired brokers to source some key components and later found out that the two brokers they hired were bidding against each other (due to lack of coordination) and as a result were driving up their own pricing. Someone coming into a small market and scooping up 10k parts can absolutely move the needle on the pricing, and it already happened to Prusa (if self-inflicted). This isn't a theoretical.
- makomk 4y ago
  Hmmm. I can easily see Prusa accidentally bidding against their own sourcing and driving up prices like that, but mostly because some of their component choices were unusual compared to the rest of the market. For example, pretty much all of the cheap i3-inspired 3D printers coming out of China switched to 32-bit controller boards years ago, but Prusa stuck with the Atmega 2560 until basically last week. That's kind of a niche part and the entire Atmega range was in short supply globally for a good while during the pandemic. With the way supply chains have been, they could easily have ended up being a huge chunk of the market trying to buy that or similarly unusual parts through brokers at some points.
  - luma 4y ago
    They made this comment in a video blog regarding the XL, which is using an STM32, several variants of which have been in extremely short supply. I'd presume that might be the specific part they were talking about. Also, they have been using 32bit controllers for all new FDM printers since the release of the Prusa Mini in 2019. That now includes the XL and the Mk4.

I think you got that backwards. It is also hard to believe that the semiconductor market would be affected significantly by the - in comparison tiny - 3D printing companies.

luma 4y ago

They directly wrote about the problem, it's not the entire market they are moving, just the market for the specific parts they are attempting to buy. They hired brokers to source some key components and later found out that the two brokers they hired were bidding against each other (due to lack of coordination) and as a result were driving up their own pricing. Someone coming into a small market and scooping up 10k parts can absolutely move the needle on the pricing, and it already happened to Prusa (if self-inflicted). This isn't a theoretical.

makomk 4y ago
Hmmm. I can easily see Prusa accidentally bidding against their own sourcing and driving up prices like that, but mostly because some of their component choices were unusual compared to the rest of the market. For example, pretty much all of the cheap i3-inspired 3D printers coming out of China switched to 32-bit controller boards years ago, but Prusa stuck with the Atmega 2560 until basically last week. That's kind of a niche part and the entire Atmega range was in short supply globally for a good while during the pandemic. With the way supply chains have been, they could easily have ended up being a huge chunk of the market trying to buy that or similarly unusual parts through brokers at some points.
- luma 4y ago
  They made this comment in a video blog regarding the XL, which is using an STM32, several variants of which have been in extremely short supply. I'd presume that might be the specific part they were talking about. Also, they have been using 32bit controllers for all new FDM printers since the release of the Prusa Mini in 2019. That now includes the XL and the Mk4.