The global market for laser systems for materials processing surpassed
the ten billion dollar mark in 2011 reaching a volume of US$ 10.1
billion. The market is 28% ahead of its 2010 volume, and 90% above its
size in the crisis year 2009. East Asia presently reports by far the
highest growth rates, with steeply growing
demand for laser systems in China, Korea and Taiwan. Laser system
demand also accelerates in other countries with high growth rates of
industrial production such as India and Brazil.
Themarket comprises laser systems for macro processing, mainly for
cutting, welding and marking, worth about US$ 7 billion, and laser
systems for micro processing, for the production of semiconductors,
flat panel displays, printed circuit boards, and solar cells, worth
about US$ 3 billion. Both segments contribute to the booming growth.
In macro processing, high power solid state lasers including fiber and
disk lasers presently set the major trend with their surging market
share in cutting, the largest application segment in laser materials
processing. While not yet suited for all cutting applications, solid
state lasers lead to advantages mainly for cutting of thin metal
sheets, they are welcome in the market. One major reason for this is
the low power consumption of these lasers.
While high power CO2 lasers, the established work horses of laser
cutting, have an electrical efficiency of less than 10% and consume up
to 100 kW of electrical power, the power
consumption of fiber and disk lasers is about five times lower. Trumpf,
one of the market leaders, already equips more than 10% of its sheet
metal cutting machines with disk lasers. A similar percentage is
estimated for the average of the other manufacturers of sheet metal
cutting systems, which mainly use fiber lasers. The breakthrough of the
new lasers in high power cutting comes many years after their success
in welding where fiber, disk and diode lasers already dominate the
market.
Laser micro processing contributed to market growth in 2011 as well,
spurred by increased application in major segments. In the
semiconductor and printed circuit board industry lasers take a crucial
role for the continued decrease of feature sizes, by direct ablative
structuring and by the exposure of photoresist. Lasers are also
increasingly used for the production of flat panel displays, including
high-resolution screens for smartphones und tablet computers, as well
as large LCD and OLED displays for television sets. Another growing
application field for laser micro processing is the production of solar
cells where laser structuring helps to increase cell efficiency.
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