Bambu Lab P1P Price Drop; First-Gen Printers a ’55/100′
On its first anniversary, Bambu Lab has dropped the price of the P1P, says its first-gen printers are mid, and hints at marginal printer upgrades to come before major hardware.
A breakout Kickstarter campaign, plaudits from all quarters, including a spot on Times Magazine’s Best of 2022 list, not to mention several recommendations across a spread of All3DP’s buyer’s guides and, recently, a highlight in All3DP Pro’s ten most innovative 3D printing companies list, marks a pretty successful first full year for Bambu Lab in the 3D printing biz.
But its printers are only mediocre, according to a new Bambu Lab blog post penned by “Spaghetti Monster” – the Bambu Lab blog pseudonym for co-founder and CEO Dr. Ye Tao. “Judged against the standards of 21st-century consumer electronics, I would rate Bambu’s first-generation printers at 55 out of 100.” Indicating the company is only just getting started, the post, celebrating the company’s first anniversary, gives some clues about the future. It continues, “The X1C and P1P models are relatively refined compared to previous-generation desktop FDM 3D printers, but they are still light years away from delivering an iPhone-like user experience, which is our ultimate goal.”
While we have the polished, appliance-like X1-Carbon and personalizable, budget-oriented P1P, there’s more on the horizon, with “minor upgrades and different versions of printers to cater to different customer needs and various markets” coming. Quite what shape this will take is unclear, though several distinctive features separate the two printers – possibly, we’ll see something emerge to bridge the gap between them.
P1P Discounted
For prospective P1P buyers, there’s also the good news that this printer – “an unbeatable package for the price” – has received a permanent price drop. Now available for $599 instead of its launch price of $699, this great-value 3d printer is now even better.
There’s some love for backers of the company’s Kickstarter campaign, too, with four-spool bundles of carbon-fiber filament for $1.99 (not a typo) plus two-spool bundles of the same for regular, post-Kickstarter customers, also at $1.99 (also not a typo). And there’s a $50 coupon for the AMS multi-material unit, but only for those that previously purchased Bambu Lab printers (excluding the X1-Carbon AMS combo).
Reflecting on a not-entirely smooth year, including startup growing pains, the post strikes an optimistic note for the future, promising innovative products for which there are “no existing references to study”. You can read the post in full over on the Bambu Lab blog.
Update – June 27, 2023: We’ve since learned that Spaghetti Monster is, in fact, Dr. Ye Tao, co-founder, and CEO of Bambu Lab. Text updated accordingly.
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