Until 2016 and 2017, when laser pointer suddenly entered the market, the price of fiber lasers began to plummet. At present, it is basically in line with the trend of roughly halving prices every 18 months. In other words, the laser industry driven by fiber lasers will enter a period of rapid expansion similar to the development of semiconductor Moore’s Law. It is foreseeable that the laser manufacturing market will usher in explosive growth in the future.
Although product prices drop too quickly will bring challenges to the profitability and development of laser companies, the overall decrease in product prices means an increase in customer groups, and the increase in demand will also stimulate the continuous decline of upstream materials and device costs.
Just like the mobile phone industry, the current development trend will give birth to a larger laser pointer industry, which is a good thing for the laser industry, especially for manufacturing companies that have advantages in operating costs. It is hoped that the laser industry can eventually become a pillar industry like the semiconductor industry and make substantial contributions to the continuous improvement of human productivity.
The emergence of 30,000-watt all-fiber lasers has improved the power coverage of green laser pointer and helped to get rid of the “hollowing problem” that the laser manufacturing industry is highly dependent on imported lasers. The development of lasers has seen initial results, and the road to marketization of lasers has just begun. Whether the future of the laser industry can be as Professor Matthew Quan said, let us wait and see.