June 19, 2009--According to Strategies Unlimited (Mountain View, CA), a market research and strategic consulting firm directed at optoelectronics and compound semiconductors, the industrial laser market will fall 32% in 2009 to the level of 2004 if sales stay at current levels, based on findings in a new report entitled Fiber and Industrial Laser Market Review and Forecast--2009 that reviews the technology, applications, key trends, markets, and suppliers of fiber and industrial lasers (see also Industry tab, "What's in store for the market" video after clicking www.laserfocusworld.com/resourcecenter/video.html).
The Strategies Unlimited report says that industrial laser sales will return to 2008 levels by 2013, helped by military, biomedical instruments, and energy-related applications. Many materials processing applications spanning laser marking to metal cutting and welding will take longer to recover. Fiber laser suppliers will see a shallower decline of 24% to $230 million, and will experience faster recovery than other types of lasers. But if the recession deepens or if suppliers engage in a desperate price war, 2009 sales will fall further.
Coherent and TRUMPF remain at the top of the list in market share. While the industrial laser business is highly fragmented, the top 10 suppliers earn about 86% of the laser revenues, while many dozens of small suppliers share less than 5% of the market. Yet, the recession is so severe that every supplier will be forced to pick and choose the laser businesses in which it wants to continue to compete. Afterward, not only will there be fewer players, but the remaining players will play in fewer niches.
For more information, go to www.strategies-u.com.
--Posted by Gail Overton, [email protected]; www.laserfocusworld.com.