Frontline | Bambu Lab launches consumer-grade UV printer project, and the first batch of R&D positions have been opened for recruitment.

By | ZHANG Ziyi

Editor | YUAN Silai

36Kr has learned that Bambu Lab has launched a consumer-grade UV printer project, with the first batch of R&D positions recently opened for recruitment.

On August 19, Bambu Lab confirmed that the company has launched a consumer-grade UV printer project. People familiar with Bambu Lab said that more than ten position directions have been planned for the project so far, covering R&D links such as nozzle drive, waveform and ink path, material verification, and software collaboration.

At present, Bambu Lab's official website has opened positions including UV Printing Technical Specialist, FPGA Development Engineer, Inkjet Control Engineer, and Mechanical Structure Engineer (Ink Path System). According to the recruitment requirements, some positions require candidates to have experience in model selection or development of mainstream printheads such as Epson, Ricoh, and Xaar, as well as experience in mass production of industrial and commercial inkjet equipment.

This means that following 3D printing and laser processing, Bambu Lab is entering another type of digital manufacturing equipment — UV printers.

UV printing is currently mainly used in advertising, packaging, industrial printing and other fields. Compared with ordinary household printing equipment, traditional UV printers have larger size, higher price and higher usage threshold. Citing data from Mordor Intelligence, the press release states that the global UV printer market size is about 1.1 billion US dollars in 2026, and is expected to reach 1.58 billion US dollars in 2031, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.59% from 2026 to 2031.

For Bambu Lab, the key to entering this market is not just to develop a UV printer, but whether it can continue the product logic it previously applied to consumer-grade 3D printers — downsizing equipment originally targeted at professional users, lowering the operation threshold, and enabling ordinary users to complete relatively complex manufacturing processes through the cooperation of software and hardware.

In the past year, Bambu Lab has significantly expanded its product boundaries beyond 3D printing.

The flagship product H2D released in March 2025 integrates processing methods such as laser cutting and engraving, CNC knife cutting, and drawing in addition to 3D printing. On August 13 this year, Bambu Lab also teased its laser product R1. After launching the UV printer project, the technical routes that Bambu Lab is publicly promoting currently cover 3D printing, laser processing and UV printing.

Judging from this series of product moves, Bambu Lab is trying to transform from a 3D printer company to a hardware company that covers more desktop manufacturing methods.

However, compared with 3D printing, UV printing involves new technical systems such as printheads, ink paths, and material adaptation. This large-scale recruitment of engineers with inkjet equipment experience also indicates that the project is still in the stage of advancing from team and technical capability building to product implementation. As for the product form, price and release time of the first consumer-grade UV printer, Bambu Lab has not yet disclosed relevant information.