xTool has built a business with RMB 2 billion (USD 300.3 million) in annual revenue selling laser engraving machines, even though many consumers have never heard of it. In hardware circles, it is best known alongside the likes of Bambu Lab.
Early 2026 appeared to mark a high point. xTool filed for a Hong Kong listing, becoming one of relatively few hardware startups to reach that stage. With no immediate listing progress at Bambu Lab, investors hoped xTool could replicate Insta360’s success.
Then the process slowed. After checking with multiple sources, 36Kr learned that issues with xTool’s corporate structure had affected its Hong Kong IPO timetable. It has since submitted another application confidentially.
Founder Jasen Wang is familiar with reversals. xTool’s predecessor, Makeblock, was once a prominent company in STEAM education, which covers science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.
By 2021, it was close to bankruptcy, with no more than RMB 10 million (USD 1.5 million) left in its accounts, according to 36Kr. Wang took his team from one investor pitch to another and even tried to win a contract to run a projector company’s overseas e-commerce business.
Despite widespread internal opposition, Wang launched the D1 desktop laser engraver and cutter. The machine lifted revenue into nine-figure RMB territory. In less than four years, a handful of products in a niche market had turned the company into a unicorn with RMB 2 billion in revenue.
But attractive openings rarely stay uncontested for long.
xTool’s prospectus showed a marked slowdown in year-on-year growth during the first three quarters of 2025. Revenue recovered in the fourth quarter, taking full-year growth above 30%. In the first half of 2026, revenue grew by approximately 80–90%.
That recovery has not removed the pressure. “A lot of competitors have poured into the market, and suddenly everyone is on edge,” one investor told 36Kr.
Some of the most consequential competition comes from outside the laser engraving category. Several investors believe 3D printers and CNC (computer numerical control) machines could substitute for some laser engraving applications, or even displace the products. In early 2025, Bambu Lab introduced a machine combining 3D printing, laser engraving and cutting, computer-controlled blade cutting, and drawing.
In September, Bambu Lab moved directly into the category with its R1 laser cutter, starting at USD 2,499. Comparable xTool products cost around USD 3,000.
The laser engraver that saved the company
After completing his master’s degree, Wang moved to Shenzhen for work. Less than a year later, he quit.
Wang founded Makeblock in 2012 out of his interest in hardware, three years before China’s mass entrepreneurship campaign. He traveled with a hardware startup incubator to a Silicon Valley demo day, appeared in Fast Company, and secured investment from Sequoia Capital China and TMC. By 2020, the company was valued at RMB 3 billion (USD 450.4 million).
A year later, the pandemic and China’s “double reduction” policy, which sought to reduce students’ homework and after-school tutoring burdens, had brought Makeblock close to bankruptcy.
“The company was bringing in almost no revenue and kept burning through the money investors had put in,” a former employee said. “It really was a last stand.”
Employees found it difficult to gauge the pressure on Wang because he rarely appeared exhausted or emotionally unsettled. What they did notice was a change in his thinking. “He said he would no longer look for a way forward in his own dreams. He had to look for it in business opportunities.”
Wang tried several directions. Products from that period, including children’s robots and drone accessories, can still be found on xTool’s Kickstarter account. They did not perform as hoped.
Wang spent more time studying overseas market data. Using a browser plug-in to examine search volumes for Amazon product categories, he found that laser products were selling well but were mostly low-quality, unbranded machines. He saw a market without an established brand.
When he proposed making laser products, however, his colleagues opposed the idea. Makeblock had launched Laserbox in 2019. “It barely sold a few units a month, and it kept breaking down,” the former employee recalled.
Wang saw a different opportunity. Laser power had improved substantially since Laserbox. Output was roughly doubling every one to two years, reaching five watts by 2021 and enabling machines to cut harder materials.
“xTool seized the opportunity created by upgrades in the supply chain, particularly developments in laser beam-combining technology,” a founder in the maker hardware sector told 36Kr. “It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. It already had a foundation in laser product R&D.”
Wang also reconsidered the users. At the time, consumer laser engravers appealed to technology enthusiasts and makers who enjoyed building things themselves. He believed Laserbox had failed because its enclosure concealed the creative process. An open-frame engraver might fare differently.
Others did not understand his insistence, but Wang’s authority within the company allowed the project to move quickly.
xTool launched the D1 in 2021. The open-frame laser engraver and cutter came in 5- and 10-watt versions. Those power levels may look modest today, but its sturdy aluminum alloy frame and precise steel wheel guides won it a strong reputation among overseas users.
The D1 was discontinued in early 2025. That single product brought another RMB 300 million (USD 45 million) into Makeblock’s accounts. Wang’s instruction to the team was simple: move faster.
36Kr’s account places three releases in 2022: an upgraded D1, the M1, and the F1. Company revenue grew severalfold. By 2023, xTool had four product lines and sales exceeding RMB 1 billion (USD 150.1 million).
It was not alone. Ortur, AtomStack, and Hingin Tech had entered consumer laser tools earlier, but none grew as quickly.
That difference may come down to Wang’s “taste,” a former xTool employee said.
Among early market leaders, founders from trading backgrounds were adept at spotting demand and selling products. Those from manufacturing backgrounds were good at integrating supply chains and offering value. Both groups tended to have less control over the overall product experience.
Many users were small businesses making goods for sale. Price was not necessarily their overriding concern. Reliability was.
“Reliability is not something you can reduce to a single number, but it shows up in product quality, the user experience, and service,” the former employee told 36Kr. “Together, those things build trust in a brand. Companies with a product background are strong here. They know they need to invest time and resources in the brand, earn a higher price premium, and use that premium to keep strengthening it.”
Wang rapidly built the M, P, S, and F product lines, covering multifunction entry-level machines, high-power processing, general-purpose desktop use, and portable precision engraving. Designs evolved from open frames toward enclosed, appliance-like machines combining multiple laser sources.
“They did not have to start R&D from scratch each time,” an employee at another consumer laser engraving company said. “They could build on a relatively complete technology and product platform, recombine existing functions, and quickly launch products for different customer groups.”
Reliable products and a broad range helped xTool become one of the best-known brands in consumer laser engraving.
One investor described the strength of that recognition through Google search interest. Searches for 3D printing, the investor said, still exceeded those for Bambu Lab, while xTool could attract more interest than the laser engraving category itself. “I don’t think another brand has reached that level in users’ minds.”
Searching for a new market
Small businesses that bought from xTool helped it grow, but also defined the limits of its initial market.
Outside China, independent craft workshops and Etsy sellers often make goods in their garages, without the same ready access to Chinese factories and Alibaba’s manufacturing ecosystem. Laser engravers and 3D printers are production tools for these customers, who helped take xTool from nine-figure to ten-figure RMB revenue.
Reaching consumers offers hardware companies a route to growth beyond business buyers. Bambu Lab’s ambitions, for example, extend beyond print farms and studios to creative entertainment devices for households.
“It is like the Subor game console,” one investor said. “Families used to have a console at home. In the future, parents might say, ‘Stop playing games. Go make something with the 3D printer.’”
That vision underpins Bambu Lab’s high valuation. xTool has yet to find an equivalent route.
“By 2024, we had already concluded that growth in laser tools was weakening and the market was becoming saturated,” a former employee said. “That would only change with a fundamental technological breakthrough and the kind of surge seen in 3D printing.”
xTool kept trying. In 2025, it released six products across three categories: laser engravers and cutters, direct-to-film garment printers, and laser welding machines. Prices were USD 2,000–10,000.
As it explored products beyond engraving, the company struggled to explain the new offerings to customers. “We couldn’t quite keep up with educating the market, and the prices were too high,” the former employee said.
xTool was also seeking to accelerate its path to a listing. Its investors had waited a long time, and the turnaround offered a chance to realize returns just as hardware businesses were attracting renewed investor attention and more competition.
Former Tuya CFO Yao Liu joined xTool in the first half of 2025 to oversee finance and related work. The business was undergoing organizational changes, while Wang stepped back from other duties to concentrate on new products.
One missed opportunity was UV printing. These machines use ultraviolet light to cure special inks applied to objects. According to 36Kr, many overseas users favor them for printing graphic T-shirts.
xTool discussed UV printers internally in 2024, but Wang gave the idea little attention. He did not explain his reasoning at length, and the proposal went no further.
By the summer of 2025, Anker’s EufyMake UV printer had raised USD 46.76 million on Kickstarter, setting a crowdfunding record.
Wang revealed little about his reaction. xTool followed with its own UV printer in 2026, and its prospectus identified printing as a second major source of growth.
“We clearly recognize that many competitors are entering this field. To stay ahead, our first strategy is to win through speed,” Wang said in a 2025 interview. “The second is innovation, which requires substantial resources and a willingness to take risks. Some attempts may fail, but it is enough if the breakthroughs that lead the trend succeed.”
xTool has yet to find another breakthrough with the impact of its first.
Retail chains and lower prices
With broad consumer adoption still elusive, xTool shifted some of its attention toward major corporate accounts.
Large retailers had long been a target, but their demands for ease of use and reliability had made entry difficult. The F2 Ultra UV, an ultraviolet laser engraver, provided an opening.
A 355-nanometer UV laser has a shorter wavelength and a smaller heat-affected zone than a conventional blue light laser, allowing fine processing of materials such as plastics and glass. Consumer versions have been uncommon because the lasers and optical systems cost more, while equipment stability and material-specific settings are difficult to get right.
The F2 Ultra UV’s predominantly “cold” processing, which limits heat damage, makes it suited to applications such as consumer electronics and retail personalization, where material compatibility and precision matter.
According to 36Kr, the machine helped xTool win large customers in China, including Huawei, Stanley, and Starbucks.
An employee at a competing company said xTool sells a complete, customer-specific system alongside the equipment. “When it enters Huawei stores, for example, xTool tests engraving parameters for Huawei products in advance and puts those settings into the software. Store users can select the relevant product and engrave it directly.”
The employee understood the complete UV laser engraving package to cost approximately RMB 37,000 (USD 5,550). Preset configurations reduce the expertise store employees need, making engraving a service that can fit into ordinary retail operations.
36Kr learned that xTool often starts with a few directly operated stores, validates the equipment and workflow, then expands through the brand’s franchise network, with franchisees purchasing the machines themselves.
Those accounts can also demonstrate the service to other prospective customers. The competitor’s employee estimated that major account expansion contributed at least RMB 400 million (USD 60.1 million) in revenue during 2026.
xTool is also trying to reach a broader market through price. Its consumer engravers have generally cost more than RMB 7,000 (USD 1,050), around 10–30% above comparable products. In 2026, it introduced the M2, starting at RMB 3,000 (USD 450).
Lower-priced machines had been discussed internally for several years, according to 36Kr, but supply chain costs and internal hardware standards had prevented xTool from reducing prices far enough.
The M2’s product manager said DIY users had always been a target. The company simply lacked the ability to serve them previously.
“This is a very large group of users, and it can give our brand much greater reach. You cannot just ignore such a broad group. That would be enormously arrogant.”
One xTool investor also sees price as decisive. In that investor’s view, a laser engraver must cost less than USD 500 to achieve widespread adoption.
The M2 was xTool’s first product designed by setting a firm price target and working backward. In the past, it had not controlled costs as deliberately.
“We have a much clearer understanding than before of exactly how much a part we design costs,” the M2 product manager told 36Kr.
The machine uses a modular design. From its RMB 3,000 starting price, users can choose modules for color printing and other processing functions. Magnetic attachments replace screws to make modules easier to remove and swap.
The lower price reflects organizational changes as well as the reuse of technology developed for higher-end machines. Over the past two years, xTool ran a cost management training program. R&D and procurement teams in hardware companies often lack visibility into one another’s information. During the program, xTool briefly opened material cost data to R&D staff, then extended cost awareness across functions.
The lower price has helped sales. At the time of 36Kr’s report, the M2 ranked first on a Tmall engraving-machine transaction chart.
Yet xTool’s dominance raises an uncomfortable question: does the lack of another major leader reflect its strength, or the limits of the laser engraving market? Investors’ waning interest makes that distinction more pressing.
Neither xTool nor its competitors has overcome the technology’s constraints. Laser engraving and cutting generate smoke, dust, and odors, requiring additional extraction and filtration equipment. According to 36Kr, a compliant extraction system often costs 20–40% of the machine’s price. Ventilation requirements also rule out unventilated apartments, offices, and bedrooms.
xTool recognizes that these constraints stand between its current products and mass adoption.
“Do you think Jasen Wang doesn’t care?” the former employee said. “But this is a problem he hasn’t been able to solve.”
CNC machines and 3D printers could move into some of laser engraving’s applications. Many investors believe those two markets have greater potential.
xTool has pursued much of the growth available within its current capabilities. To withstand competitors such as Bambu Lab expanding across product categories, it needs a wider audience and more bestselling products.
Wang’s earlier success combined judgment with timing. Born in the 1980s, he was drawn to the stories of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk while at university. He moved south on his own just as China’s industrial supply chains were beginning to make excess manufacturing capacity available.
“I think Wang treats entrepreneurship like a playground. He really enjoys doing things,” a former employee told 36Kr. “For him, starting a business is as pure as creating something.”
That enthusiasm sustained Wang through 14 years of entrepreneurship, including the decision that brought the company back from near collapse. As xTool pursues a listing, he needs to find another market large enough to support its next stage of growth.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Leslie Zhang for 36Kr.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.66 = USD 1 based on estimates as of November 2, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are approximate and, where appropriate, rounded for ease of reference. They may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.