December 1, 2005, Nashua, NH—Sales of fiber lasers leapt to new heights in 2005, according to the annual Laser Focus World market survey. The survey, which will be published in the January and February 2006 issues of Laser Focus World and the January 1, 2006 and February 1, 2006 issues of Optoelectronics Report, found that sales of fiber lasers in 2005 were up 53% over 2004 and are projected to continue growing aggressively into 2006. Other market researchers have suggested that global sales of fiber lasers will reach $256 million by 2008 (see Optoelectronics Report, December 1, 2004, p. 1).
Primary drivers behind this strong performance are the growing acceptance of high-power fiber lasers for industrial applications and emerging opportunities for lower-power fiber lasers in medicine and the graphic arts—all leveraging technology developments originating in optical telecom. In fact, fiber lasers represent such significant value that they are being adopted at a rate much faster than any previous industrial laser technology, including lamp-pumped Nd:YAG or CO2 lasers. And R&D activity involving fiber lasers is certainly not waning; there are more than 100 technical sessions and related short courses about fiber laser technology at Photonics West.
But the only market-oriented information for fiber lasers offered at Photonics West will come during the annual Laser and Photonics Marketplace Seminar, to be held January 23, 2006, at the Fairmont Hotel (San Jose, CA. Among other things, the seminar will debut the first Fiber Laser Markets Forum, with representatives from SPI, IPG Photonics, and other fiber-laser firms discussing the future of this technology—both high and low power--and the growing number of markets it appears to be suited for.
For more information or to register for the Laser and Photonics Marketplace Seminar, go to www.marketplaceseminar.com.