In my keynote presentation on the Global Market for Industrial Lasers at the upcoming Lasers for Manufacturing Event (LME) on September 23, 2014, in Schaumburg, IL, I will drop a bit of a bombshell by predicting that industrial fiber laser sales in 2014 could flirt with $1 billion, a 27-percent increase over 2013 sales. If this does occur, fiber laser revenues will boost total industrial laser revenues to about 7 percent, a 40-percent increase of what I had forecast in January.
For this to happen, global economic conditions will continue as-is today, and fiber laser sales will have to continue at the strong double-digit rate shown so far this year and increase their penetration at the higher power level, currently ~35%, into the market position of CO2 lasers in the sheet metal cutting industry.
My presentation will outline the market conditions that will enable the forecast to occur. Only attendees at LME will get a preview of what the 2014 industrial laser market may look like in January.