Analysis on the market status and development trend of laser cutting industry

1. Overview of the laser cutting industryLaser is another major invention of mankind after nuclear energy, computers, and semiconductors since the 20th century. From the development history of the global laser industry, developed countries have promoted the use of laser processing technology in the fields of automobiles, machinery, electronics, aviation, metallurgy, etc., and have basically completed the replacement of laser technology for traditional processing technology, entering the "light processing" era. Laser cutting uses the high power density of the laser beam to focus the laser on a very small light spot, quickly heat the material, vaporize it to the boiling point and form a cavity, and then move the laser beam to create a slit on the surface of the material to complete the cutting of the processed object. Laser cutting technology can be widely used in the processing of metal and non-metallic materials. Compared with traditional tool cutting methods, laser cutting has the advantages of f
   A complete laser cutting process includes: the first step is to use the laser-specific design software provided by the control system provider or third-party industrial design software such as AutoCAD, Solidworks, UG, etc. to draw the processing drawings of parts and assemblies; the second step is to use the software to perform post-graphic processing and typesetting on the processing drawings, and generate the processing machine tool code; the third step is that the laser cutting machine tool performs the cutting task according to the code instructions. The entire cutting process involves graphic editing, process settings and specific processing technology selection, motion control, peripheral control such as cutting head and laser, processing control, focal length control and follow-up between the cutting head and the cutting parts, and finally completes the processing of parts and assemblies.

   2. Analysis of the current market situation of China's laser cutting industry Although the laser market grew in 2019, the growth rate began to slow down compared with the previous two years. The sales revenue of laser equipment (including imports) in all fields was 65.8 billion yuan, an increase of 8.8% year-on-year. Due to the uncertainty of the global economic trend, it is estimated that the overall sales revenue of China's laser equipment market will be 64.5 billion yuan in 2020, which will be the first negative growth in nearly a decade.

   In the industrial laser equipment market, laser cutting is the most widely used, accounting for 39%, while marking and welding rank second and third, accounting for 19% and 12% respectively.

   In terms of sales of high-power laser cutting equipment, China sold about 7,000 high-power laser cutting equipment in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 16.7%; it is expected that the sales of high-power laser cutting equipment will increase to 7,800 units in 2020. In 2019, ultra-high-power laser cutting machines of 12kW, 20kW, 25kW and even 30kW have also been launched.

   In terms of sales of medium-power laser cutting equipment, China sold about 3,400 medium-power laser cutting systems in 2019. The gross profit margin of medium-power cutting equipment is getting lower and lower as laser processing manufacturers begin to move into high-power products.

     From the perspective of laser equipment application fields, the sales revenue of laser equipment in the industrial field reached 38.66 billion yuan in 2019. Laser equipment in the information field followed closely with sales revenue of 14.21 billion yuan. Commercial equipment surpassed medical equipment to become the third largest market, with sales revenue of 5.48 billion yuan. The sales revenue of medical and scientific research laser equipment ranked fourth and fifth respectively. In 2019, the commercial field had the fastest growth rate in the application field of laser equipment, at 38%, and the scientific research field maintained a growth of 20%.

In 2016, the low-power fiber laser (<100W) market was mostly occupied by domestic manufacturers, with a market share of up to 85%, and low-power fiber lasers have achieved import substitution. Domestic manufacturers are slightly better in the medium-power fiber laser (≤1.5kW) market. In 2016, the market share of medium-power laser products of local enterprises was 58.46%, exceeding the share of foreign brands. Due to the objective gap in performance and stability, most of the high-power fiber laser (>1.5kW) market is still occupied by foreign manufacturers. In 2016, the market share of domestic high-power fiber lasers accounted for about 8%. With the mass production of domestic high-power lasers such as Raycus Laser, the proportion of domestic high-power fiber lasers has increased to 35% in 2018. Import substitution of high-power fiber lasers will continue to be the development trend of the domestic laser industry. With the technological progress and upgrading of domestic laser manufacturers, domestic

3. Introduction to the leading enterprises in China's laser cutting industry Bochu Electronics is the leader of the complete set of control systems for fiber laser cutting in China. It is committed to providing stable and efficient automation control solutions for laser processing. Its main products include follow-up control systems, board control systems, bus control systems and other related laser control supporting products. The company currently has a complete coverage of five major key technologies: CAD, CAM, NC, sensors and hardware design, and has obvious technological leadership in the field of medium and low power laser cutting control systems. The company currently has a market share of about 60% in the domestic medium and low power market, of which the market share in the medium power market is 90%; the high power market is still dominated by foreign companies, and the localization rate is only about 10%, of which the company almost occupies all the high power domestic market share. So far, the c

4. Analysis of the development trend of China's laser cutting industry 1. High power can improve performance and throughput High-power laser cutting technology has grown year by year. In 2015, 4kW laser cutting machines were often seen in the North American market. Entering mid-2019, the trend is 6kW and higher high-power lasers. These high-power laser machines provide a larger cutting range, faster cutting speed and improved edge quality of parts while improving performance and output. High power can usually cut thicker materials, but a larger cutting range is only one aspect of the advantages of high-power laser cutting, and faster cutting speeds also improve output. Improving edge quality has been the focus since the introduction of fiber lasers. CO2 laser machines can provide excellent edge quality, and solid-state laser technology has been working hard to achieve this goal. As fiber lasers move to higher power levels, the edge quality is significantly smoother and smoother, and is now more similar to C