Apple testing 3D printers to make smartwatches, Bloomberg reports

Apple (AAPL) is testing the use of 3D printers to produce the steel chassis used by some of its upcoming smartwatches, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reports, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The technique would obviate the need to cut large slabs of metal into the product’s shape, reducing the time it takes to build devices while also helping the environment by using less material, sources told Bloomberg. If the work with Apple Watches goes to plan, Apple will look to expand the process to more products over the next several years, the people said. 3D Systems (DDD), Stratasys (SSYS) and Materialise (MTLS) are among the public companies with exposure to the 3D printing space. 3D Systems and Stratasys shares moved higher following Bloomberg’s report.