LASER PROCESSING MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Challenges And Opportunities

• High initial cost involved in laser processing machines is expected to hamper the global laser processing market growth over the forecast period.
• Growing Environmental concerns regarding rare earth elements mining are expected hinder processing market growth over the forecast period.

 Restraint:

1. High initial cost involved in laser processing machines is expected to hamper the global laser processingmarket growth over the forecast period

Despite offering numerous advantages, laser processing faces numerous obstacles adoption with the high cost being one of them. Conventional plasma cutting and requires a relatively low maintenance cost of US$ 5,000 annually, while it is as high as US$ 10,000 for laser technology annually. Although higher adoption of laser technology is declining the prices, it still remains an expensive technology to incorporate. Hence, these factors are expected to hamper the global laser processing market growth over the forecast period.

2. Growing environmental concerns regarding rare earth elements mining are expected to hinder the global laser processing market growth over the forecast period

Rare earth elements consist of two transition elements and 15 lanthanides: scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium and lutetium. These elements are known for their unique luminescent, magnetic, and electrochemical properties. However, extraction of these elements poses various challenges, since it is done through open-pit mining with release of major contaminants such as radionuclides. These contaminants have adverse effects on the earth's ecosystem. Moreover, these refining of these elements can produce harmful by-products into water bodies and air. Thus, these factors expected to hinder the market growth in the near future.

• Growing application of laser in medical surgeries and devices is expected to propel the global laser processing market growth over the forecast period
• Lucrative advantages of laser process over conventional material processing technologies are expected to drive growth of the global laser processing market during the forecast period

Market Driver:                                                                                      

1. Lucrative advantages of laser process over conventional material processing technologies are expected to drive growth of the global laser processing market during the forecast period

Material processing includes various processes such as engraving, cutting, marking, and drilling of metals and non-metals. Laser technology offers various advantages as compared to conventional techniques such as plasma technology, flame, and water jet. Plasma and flame technologies are used for cutting purposes and not for engraving, marking, and drilling processes, while waterjet is used for the ablation and structuring process. However, waterjet creates a loud noise while operating and hence becomes inconvenient for material processing. On the contrary, laser technology can perform all the aforementioned procedures efficiently without producing noise pollution. Hence, these factors are expected to drive growth of the global laser processing market during the forecast period.

2. Growing application of laser in medical surgeries and devices is expected to propel the global laserprocessing market growth over the forecast period

Carbon dioxide and Nd: YAG lasers are the most commonly used technologies in medical applications. However, laser technology has started to gain traction in a range of applications from diagnosis to treatment. It is typically used for treatment of skin, hair, cancer, and eyes. Various surgeries such as cleaning of arteries, surgery for a detached retina, and other cosmetic surgeries have become possible with the help of laser technology. Cosmetic surgeries such as removal of permanent/birthmarks on the skin, port-wine stains, skin blotches, and other skin treatments can be accomplished using laser technology. Lasers play an important role in material processing of medical such as surgical tools and implantable devices used in hospitals and dispensaries. Moreover, laser technology is being used in various medical procedures such as lithotripsy, dermatology, angioplasty, mammography, microscopy, medical imaging, cancer diagnosis, and ophthalmology. For instance, in September 2013, Harvard University researchers and a team from the University of Michigan Medical School developed a new laser based technology that makes the treatment of brain tumor more accurate. Therefore, these factors are expected to propel the market growth over the forecast period.