The MAKE/Intel Maker Market Study describes a 2012 U.S. survey in which hands-on hardware and software projects sat alongside collaboration and, for a substantial minority of respondents, commerce-related activity. It is a historical profile of people reached through MAKE’s own lists—not a current estimate of the maker population or a forecast of market demand.
What was the Maker Market Study?
The MAKE/Intel Maker Market Study and Media Report: An In-depth Profile of Makers at the Forefront of Hardware Innovation was conducted by Karlin Associates, LLC, for sponsors MAKE and Intel. It aimed to document maker behavior and attitudes for the maker community and businesses involved in design, hardware and software, and consumer electronics. The report is the source for the findings below.
The online survey drew a random sample from three MAKE sources: Maker Faire exhibitors, MAKE magazine subscribers, and MAKE newsletter subscribers. People outside the United States were excluded. Invitations went out May 1, 2012, a reminder followed May 3, and the results were based on 789 respondents in a dataset downloaded May 4, 2012. Those dates and sampling boundaries matter: this was not a representative sample of every U.S. maker, much less a global or current market survey.
How did respondents describe themselves and their projects?
Respondents most often selected “hobbyist” and “tinkerer” to describe themselves, followed by “engineer” and “builder.” In the survey, 79% said they were involved in hardware or software projects. The figures characterize this survey’s U.S. sampling frame, not the prevalence of maker activity in the broader population. The report’s profile findings center on identity as well as activity.
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Hardware and software activity
In the 2012 responses, 70% reported hardware projects and 66% reported software projects. Microcontrollers, including Arduino or PIC, were the most common hardware category shown, used by 53% of respondents. These categories could overlap: the results do not imply that hardware and software makers were separate groups. The hardware findings also include an anonymous respondent’s description of a robot that sorted and transferred cargo, with processing powered by two Arduino Uno boards.
How did makers share and collaborate?
Seventy-four percent reported at least one sharing or collaborative activity listed in the survey. Fourteen percent were counted as makerspace participants under the report’s definition. The latter is a specific survey category, not a measure of all people who ever used a shared workshop or community space. Both percentages refer to the 2012 respondent sample. The collaboration results show that participation extended beyond individual projects, but do not establish how common those behaviors are today.
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What did the study find about maker businesses and income?
Thirty-four percent reported maker activity related to commerce or income, and 19% said a commercial enterprise had approached them about an idea or prototype. These results suggest that commercial activity existed alongside hobby projects in this sample; they do not measure revenue, business survival, or the size of a present-day maker economy. The business findings identify Kickstarter as the most popular crowdfunding site among the report’s business-funder segment. That is a historical finding about that segment, not a current ranking or a recommendation to use a particular platform.
What were the study’s four innovator segments?
The report classified respondents into four innovator segments. Forty-nine percent fit at least one segment, and the groups overlapped; they should not be read as mutually exclusive customer types. The segment analysis uses these orientations:
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- Leading edge: self-described leading-edge identity.
- Income/commerce: maker activity involving commerce or income.
- Business-funded: activity associated with business funding.
- Makerspace: participation as defined by the study.
Because individuals could belong to more than one segment, the 49% figure is the share fitting one or more categories, not the sum of four exclusive market shares.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the study can—and cannot—tell you
The report is useful as a snapshot of how one U.S.-based MAKE-reached group understood and practiced making in 2012. It connects hands-on projects with sharing, collaboration, and commercial interest, while showing that maker identity was not limited to professional engineers or businesses.
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It cannot support a current market-size estimate, a forecast of product demand, or a claim about all makers. Its respondents came from MAKE’s exhibitor and subscriber lists, and its results are more than a decade old. The report reproduces Dale Dougherty’s 2011 observation in The Economist that makers can occupy niches large firms overlook while attracting corporate attention; that quotation supplies historical context, not evidence that a particular market opportunity exists now.
The report text is available in a mirrored copy; the accessible full-text copy was hosted by usermanual.wiki, while the official Makezine CDN listing could not be retrieved. For consequential decisions or exact quotations, consult an accessible publisher copy where possible.
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Quick Recap
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