In this segment, Ashesh Amin draws a parallel between Netflix’s evolution and the adoption of 3D technology in manufacturing. He recounts Netflix’s early challenges with physical DVD distribution, its shift from high upfront rental fees to a low‑cost subscription model, and its price localization for markets like India and China. Amin argues that 3D software providers could accelerate global uptake by adopting similar flexible, subscription‑based pricing and regional pricing strategies. He observes a disparity in 3D technology accessibility: large, low‑margin manufacturers can afford the tools due to economies of scale, whereas small boutique firms in countries such as Bangladesh struggle with cost. The overall message is that understanding how technologies have been repeatedly “written off” and then reinvented—exemplified by Netflix—can guide the 3D industry toward broader, more inclusive adoption.
Chapters
It's like the Netflix phenomenon. I remember the first time Netflix came out, my wife was the most excited person on that. She used to take these DVDs, and there was these little round things, and used to put it into the mail, and they used to come with pre-packed mail, and they, you know, it'd be picked up from your guy. Some of those New York City mailboxes couldn't hold the CDs, so we had to give it to the doorman and all kinds of challenges. And then we thought it's going to be obsolete, who's going to do CDs? Well, guess what? You know, today it's an $89 billion market cap company. So it's happened because every time the community, the industry, the people, the realities of life challenged Netflix that they were going to go obsolete, they came back with a different way of doing things. Same concept, getting content to the consumer. They changed their models, same concept. They changed from the $199 or $299 they used to charge and no late fees, you just couldn't get another one till you returned one, models to now a subscription saying, you don't want to use me, that's okay. Just pay me $9.99, I'll never bother you. You don't get an email from Netflix saying, hey, you haven't used Netflix in so long. They don't really care. It's $9.99, you pay me and I'm done. And one thing smarter, you know, they said, you know what, if I'm gonna go to India and I'm gonna have $9.99, it ain't gonna work. So I have to have the equivalent of what they're gonna pay in India or China, and it's gonna be $3.99. So if the software people understand that in the 3D world, I think they would have a lot more people embracing it all over the world. From Bangladesh, I was in Bangladesh 2-3 months ago, and a lot of those people can't afford some of this 3D technology, especially the small boutique firms that are manufacturing high-end product. Surprisingly, the low-end manufacturers that are producing really big quantities can afford it because the scale just allows them to. The smaller ones can't, and that's, you know, something that the technology progression and the Netflix— what I call the Netflix phenomenon— I've been using this example a lot lately because I really truly believe that if you really study all the different times that they have been written off and they've been told that, you know, their technology is off, they've come back with something new.
