Laser Focus World gave a peek into the results of the first annual State of the Market research results. The survey was fielded to the brand’s broad horizontal audience, with the goal of gaining valuable insights from a mix of executives and engineers into photonics and optics purchase expectations for 2023, preferences when looking at systems rather than components, and what value buyers place on innovations. The respondents were a global in nature, although 73% were based in North America.
There were some clear takeaways from the research. Specifically, even though economic uncertainty is impacting every market, a healthy percentage of buyers (roughly 80%) anticipate buying more photonics- and optics-related goods throughout 2023. Only 14% expect their purchases to remain the same as in 2022. In dealing with economic uncertainty, 37% said they are willing to expand their list of suppliers while 30% are more focused on buying components domestically.
Another interesting takeaway: from a buyer’s perspective, there seems to be uncertainty around a market-driven strategy to move towards offering systems or subassemblies rather than componentry. While 50% of manufacturers are likely to shift towards systems or subassemblies, the largest percentage of buyers either does not seem to have a preference (36%) or sees a shift as unlikely (36%).
However, buyers do heavily favor working with manufacturers who themselves place an emphasis on innovation, with 54% saying innovation is either important or extremely important. The noticeable desire for offerings with better capabilities than previous iterations is not a surprise in a still relatively young industry.
In addition, we asked how buyers are dealing with the many supply chain concerns that crippled companies throughout the pandemic. Improving resiliency through better sourcing (51%), embracing what-if scenarios (41%), and seeking more strategic partnerships (34%) surfaced as the most meaningful strategies.
These results are really the tip of the iceberg. The full report is available for download here.
