December 17, 2013 (Source: The China Post) — The Kinpo Group, a local electronics conglomerate, will begin selling its low-cost three-dimensional printers overseas early next year and will introduce other models for the high-end market later, a company executive said yesterday.

The production company XYZprinting Inc., a joint venture between two Kinpo subsidiaries, is scheduled to start shipping its printers to China in January, Japan and the United States in February, and Europe in March, said its chairman Simon Shen.

The goal is sell 100,000 units of 3D printers globally in 2014, he said at a press conference, forecasting that the U.S. will likely become the biggest market, while the 3D printer markets in Japan and Europe will grow rapidly.

The current printer model, dubbed “da Vinci,” is sold under the brand name XYZprinting and costs NT$15,000 (US$507). The company plans to roll out four new mid-range and high-end models, starting in mid-2014, Shen said, but did not give a price range.

“I’m confident that we have a good chance of becoming another ‘pride of Taiwan,’” he said, referring to the Taiwanese brand’s entry into the international market.

Meanwhile, from Dec. 24, the company will begin filling domestic pre-orders for more than 1,000 “da Vinci” units, Shen said at the press conference at which he announced a partnership with the domestic mobile carrier Vibo Telecom Inc. to display the printer in some of its flagship stores.

XYZprinting is a joint venture between two Kinpo subsidiaries — Kinpo Electronics Inc. and Cal-Comp Electronics and Communications Co.

According to the research firm IDC, Taiwan will focus on 3D printer applications for small and medium size businesses, and the biotechnology, medical, and educational sectors in 2014.

The 3D printer market in Taiwan is forecast to grow by an annual 67 percent in 2014, beating the estimated 59 percent global growth and making the country one of the main drivers of 3D printing development in the Asia-Pacific region, IDC said.