Dublin, Ireland: With an estimated CAGR of 6.18 percent from 2014-2020, the global laser processing market is set to reach US$17.36 billion by 2020. Revealed in a report by Research and Markets, much of this impetus is driven by the increasing adoption of fibre lasers in the medical sector, as well as the growing need for advanced processing tools and techniques in industries such as oil & gas, automotive, and machine tooling.

Marking and engraving applications for ICs (Integrated Circuits) and chips in the semiconductor and electronics industry is also driving the market for laser processing. The different laser technologies include gas lasers, solid-state lasers, fibre lasers, and semiconductor laser. Amongst these, gas & fibre lasers are the most common type of lasers used for laser processing and marking, due to their high output power capabilities.

Demand has been rising for different types of lasers used in material laser processing that have a drastically reduced laser size, high wall plug efficiency, low power consumption, and less cost. Due to technological advancements pertaining to semiconductors, fibre laser materials, and mounting technologies, it is anticipated that the laser processing market would continue to expand at a steady rate, in the next seven years. 

Fibre lasers and disk lasers would continue to play a significant role in energy storage for pulsed systems. Meanwhile, emerging new optical combination schemes are also expected to boost the market further. All these types of laser technologies provide high precision cutting, welding, and drilling with less damage to the material. This has encouraged manufacturers in different industries including automotive, aerospace, and original equipment manufacturers (OEM), among others, to utilise laser technology in material processing.