With an average annual market growth rate of 42% over the last three years, fiber lasers have been highly successful, and the worldwide market reached $300 million in 2008. The most important application area is materials processing, with a market volume of $210 million, corresponding to a market share of 7% (2008 world market for all lasers in materials processing: $3.0 billion). Examples of further market growth areas for fiber lasers are flat sheet cutting, fine processing, and marking.
Nevertheless, more development work will be needed before fiber lasers can replace current technology in many applications in materials processing, medical therapy, information technology, and defense. They provide a larger range of parameters at competitive cost, especially when certain pulse regimes and different wavelengths are required. This is one of the major findings of the new report "Fiber Lasers 2009" published by Optech Consulting.
The report is based on the results of the workshop "Fiber Laser Markets, Key Challenges and
Opportunities," held by the European Photonics Industry Consortium, EPIC, on 6th November 2008 in Dresden, Germany. Optech Consulting has added critical information from expert interviews as well as market information. Detailed competitive analysis reveals the position of fiber lasers and the improvements required for their extended application in macro and micro materials processing, medical therapy, displays, and defense. For further information please visit www.optech-consulting.com.