A Comprehensive Analysis of the Laser Industry in 2025.

Are you curious about how modern industry achieves millimeter or even micrometer-level precision processing¹? Or how medical surgeries are becoming increasingly minimally invasive and precise²? The answer lies in those magical beams of lasers. Lasers, the "darlings" of the technology field, have been silently rewriting the development scripts of various industries. What kind of changes will the laser industry bring in the upcoming 2025, and what trends and mysteries are worth exploring in depth? Today, let's unveil this mystery together and conduct a comprehensive and insightful analysis of the laser industry in 2025.

A Review of the Development of the Laser Industry

1. Sales revenue of laser equipment

With its advantages of high precision, high speed, and superior results, laser processing technology³ is gradually replacing traditional processing technologies and has become a high-tech field that China prioritizes and promotes. In recent years, the demand for laser equipment across various industries has continued to climb, strongly driving the rapid growth of China's laser equipment market⁴. According to the "2024-2029 China Laser Equipment Industry Prospect Forecast and Strategic Investment Opportunity Insight Report," in 2023, the sales revenue of China's laser equipment market⁴ reached 91 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%, and the export value of laser cutting equipment reached US$1.95 billion (13.7 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 17%. These data fully demonstrate the important position of the laser industry in China's economic system and its strong competitiveness in the international market.

In terms of application fields, laser technology⁵ has long gone beyond traditional industrial processing, achieving deep integration and expansion in multiple fields such as medical treatment, communications, and display. For example, in the medical field, laser technology⁵ provides more precise operational methods for surgical treatment, effectively assisting in minimally invasive surgery⁶ and improving medical outcomes; in the communications field, laser communication technology⁷ continuously promotes the improvement of information transmission capabilities, laying a solid foundation for digital development.

2. Market Size and Distribution of Industrial Lasers

China's government is vigorously promoting the development of advanced manufacturing industries characterized by precision manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing technologies. This has significantly increased the market demand for industrial lasers⁸ and laser equipment, making it a major growth point in the global laser industry. With the widespread application and development of related fields such as fiber optic communication systems, research into laser applications in areas such as ultrafast optoelectronics, nonlinear optics, and optical sensing is receiving increasing attention, and the corresponding market share is gradually expanding. From 2015 to 2020, the market size of industrial lasers⁸ in China grew from 9.151 billion yuan to 15.875 billion yuan, and is expected to reach 20.827 billion yuan in 2023. Among them, fiber lasers⁹ account for 65.47% of the market share, semiconductor lasers account for 13.05%, CO2 lasers account for 4.89%, and solid-state lasers account for 11.31%.

As the core component of laser processing equipment, lasers involve multiple complex manufacturing processes, resulting in a high barrier to entry for the industry. Previously, the Chinese laser market¹⁰ was largely dominated by international giants. However, in recent years, with the upgrading and transformation of China's manufacturing industry towards high-end and intelligent manufacturing¹¹, domestic laser companies¹² have been rising steadily, significantly improving their market share.

3. Market Structure

Lasers can be categorized into fiber lasers⁹, semiconductor lasers¹³, solid-state lasers, and gas lasers based on their gain medium. Fiber lasers, with their advantages of high efficiency, versatility, and low maintenance costs, are favored by downstream customers and are widely used in industrial applications, accounting for more than half of the market share¹⁴. In the medical field, semiconductor, solid-state, and gas lasers play important roles, together accounting for 49% of the market share¹⁴, jointly contributing to the advancement and development of medical technology.

4. Application Areas

Industrial and information technology sectors are the main downstream application areas for lasers. In the industrial field, laser equipment accounts for 62% of the market, serving as a core force in industrial processing¹⁵ and driving industrial production towards higher efficiency and precision. The information technology sector accounts for 22% of the laser equipment market; in areas such as fiber optic communications¹⁶, laser technology provides strong support for rapid information transmission. While commercial, research, and medical fields account for relatively smaller proportions (7%, 5%, and 4% respectively), they play unique and indispensable roles in their respective sub-sectors, together forming a diversified application ecosystem for lasers¹⁷.

Policies Supporting the Development of the Laser Industry

As the core and crucial component of laser equipment, responsible for generating laser beams and forming the basis for laser technology applications, the laser industry also benefits from policies related to laser equipment¹⁸. In recent years, the Chinese government and relevant departments have attached great importance to the development of the laser equipment industry¹⁹ and have issued a series of policy documents, such as the "Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Six Other Departments on Issuing the Implementation Plan for Promoting Equipment Upgrades in the Industrial Field" and the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Intelligent Manufacturing²⁰." These policies clarify the direction of industrial development, plan specific implementation paths and key tasks, and provide strong support for the sustained and healthy development of the laser equipment industry¹⁹.

Laser Industry Trend Insights: Focusing on 2025

Favorable policies promote industry development.

The state's increasing emphasis on the upgrading and transformation of the manufacturing industry has led to strong policy support for laser equipment²¹, given its high efficiency, environmental friendliness, and high precision. These policies not only provide a solid foundation for the development of laser cutting technology²² but also create a vast market space for the rapid expansion and industrial upgrading²³ of the laser equipment²¹ industry, driving the sector towards higher quality and greater intelligence.

Market demand drives industry development.

The market size of laser equipment²¹ in China continues to expand, with strong growth momentum. The vigorous development of intelligent manufacturing²⁴, high-tech manufacturing, and strategic emerging industries has brought huge market demand for the laser equipment²¹ industry. Simultaneously, with the continuous improvement of domestic equipment in terms of quality, technology, and service capabilities, the trend of import substitution²⁵ of laser equipment²¹ is becoming increasingly apparent. The market share of Chinese laser equipment²¹ manufacturers is expected to further expand, and their influence in the global laser industry landscape will continue to strengthen.

Energy conservation and environmental protection²⁶ trends lead industry development.

Against the backdrop of global pursuit of green and sustainable development, laser equipment²¹, with its high efficiency, low energy consumption, noise-free, and pollution-free environmental characteristics, is gradually becoming the preferred technology in industrial processing. This characteristic, which aligns with the trend of energy conservation²⁷ and environmental protection²⁶, gives laser equipment²¹ broad application prospects in future industrial processing, helping to promote industrial production development while contributing to environmental protection²⁶ and achieving a win-win situation in terms of economic and ecological benefits.

Decreased application costs²⁸ drive industry development.

The reduction in the application cost of laser equipment is driving its application towards "popularization," accelerating the replacement of traditional metal-cutting machine tools with laser cutting equipment. Furthermore, given that lasers can meet the requirements of high-end manufacturing for process innovation, the decline in laser prices has enabled laser processing²⁹ equipment to enter micro-processing fields such as precision PCB marking, precision laser welding, and precision laser cutting. With the continued reduction in application costs²⁸, laser processing²⁹ will achieve deeper penetration into numerous industries such as automobiles and 3C electronics, and its application scenarios will further expand, providing strong support for the upgrading and transformation of China's manufacturing industry.

In short, the laser industry in 2025 will face both opportunities and challenges, and the industry is expected to flourish in a healthier and more sustainable direction driven by multiple factors.

Against the backdrop of the laser industry's continuous pursuit of higher precision and efficiency, Coolingstyle's chillers, with their superior temperature control accuracy and compact design, have become key supporting products for laser equipment. Laser processing has extremely strict requirements for temperature stability; any slight temperature fluctuation can affect the performance and processing accuracy of the laser. Coolingstyle chillers³⁰ can precisely control the temperature within ±0.1°C, ensuring that laser equipment operates efficiently while maintaining a stable working state, thereby improving overall processing quality and production efficiency.

Furthermore, the compact design of Coolingstyle chillers³⁰ makes them particularly suitable for use with various laser equipment, especially in work environments with limited space, providing efficient cooling without occupying excessive space. With the increasing demand for high precision and high efficiency in the laser industry, Coolingstyle, with its precise temperature control solutions, is providing solid support for the stability and sustainability of laser equipment, and is also driving the entire industry towards a more intelligent and greener direction.