March 20--IPG Photonics (Oxford, MA) announced 2005 sales of $96.5 million, a 59 percent increase from 2004, as well as a 300 percent increase in operating income. The growth came from all end markets, including materials processing, telecom, and others, and builds upon the 80 percent sales jump and improvement in profitability IPG saw in 2004. As a result of its high three-year growth rate, Boston Business Journal recently ranked IPG in the top 20 of the area's fastest-growing private companies.
"As more customers learn about the benefits of our revolutionary fiber laser technology platform, IPG is expanding the uses and end markets for our products," stated Dr. Valentin Gapontsev, IPG's CEO and founder. "In 2005, IPG saw fiber lasers winning in head-to-head competition against legacy YAG and CO2 lasers. As a result, demand for our multi-kilowatt and hundred-watt lasers started to accelerate powerfully."
"Last year we built over 60,000 sq ft of electronics-grade production facilities in Massachusetts and Germany, and this year we plan to add even more, including a state-of-the-art applications and test center opening next month in Germany," added IPG's founder. In 2005, IPG opened service centers in Korea and India and is planning additional center locations throughout the world.
