Laser market to exceed to $11 billion by 2017

Strategies Unlimited has released its annual market research report, The Worldwide Market for Lasers. This report foresees revenue growth of 4.9% from 2012 to 2017 for the total laser market, bolstered by double-digit CAGR in communications lasers revenue.

“With many promising technology and application trends, communications lasers will require persistent reinvestment by equipment and component manufacturers”, Strategies Unlimited Senior Analyst Allen Nogee states.

The worldwide market for lasers offers insightful analysis and a forecast through 2017 of the laser market by laser type, application, supplier, and geographic region. New to the comprehensive annual report this year are the categories of Flow Cytometry, Dental Lasers, Additive Manufacturing, and CO.2 lasers for Extreme UV.

Outcomes for the laser market in 2013 were relatively mixed, given that the global economic climate is still slowly recovering from the recent recession. Sectors with thriving revenue growth were lasers used for communications, displays, sensors, medical, and marking. Already the fastest growing segment of the laser market, displays will only continue to grow in the upcoming year as laser light shows become incorporated into more performances due to lower costs and laser lit digital cinema projectors finally reach commercial use.

In the forecast period, Strategies Unlimited anticipates fibre lasers will be the fastest growing laser in terms of revenue during the forecast period. “This is unsurprising,” Nogee comments, “seeing as they are reliable, have a long life, their prices are dropping, and they are a good choice for marking and for cutting thinner metals”. Also expected to experience healthy growth are high-power (HP) diode lasers, which are used for increasingly-popular dental and skin procedures, laser dazzlers, and high-power laser projectors.