Industrial laser activity in Munich

The first day of the Laser World of Photonics show in Munich fell a little short of attendance expectations. Traditionally, the first day is slow as German attendees use that day as a travel day. However, the signs of continued economic stress in the manufacturing sector were obvious as visitor traffic in the halls featuring industrial laser equipment was spotty; some large exhibitors seemed to have steady traffic, which may be a result of good pre-show promotion by their sales staff. The expanded hall C1 was sparse most of the morning but picked up somewhat in the afternoon. A show staffer told us that the C halls were down in raw numbers. We, how1ever, spoke to a dozen exhibitors in the C halls and most acknowledged the number decrease but emphasized that the quality of the visitors was very high.