This new report from Strategies Unlimited examines in more detail the many segments that make up the market for lasers for micro materials processing.  This includes materials processing applications using lasers under 1 kilowatt in optical power, but not including laser marking or decorative engraving.  The category includes lasers for a wide variety of applications, from semiconductor circuit repair, drilling holes in printed circuit boards, manufacturing solar cells, stent cutting, and many more.

            These market segments have been discussed in our earlier reports on industrial lasers, but this report extends its audit of over 120 applications and the wide range of technology solutions in this highly fragmented category.  The report also examines more segments than ever before, including: end-user sectors, processes, power levels, pulse types, laser types, and wavelengths.  It is the only market report of its kind on this topic, and one in a series of market reports on lasers by Strategies Unlimited.   

The report concludes that sales of lasers for low-power materials processing will fall by 40% 2009, but it will grow to exceed $460 million by 2013. The strongest growth will be in fiber lasers, diode lasers, green lasers, mode-locked (ultrafast) lasers, and lasers for manufacturing solar cells. While the market appears at first to be merely scaling to the world economy, it is also likely to disrupt market share in many segments, in a game of musical chairs.