Interpretation of the 2025 China Laser Industry Development Report (Detailed Version)
Recently, the Chinese Optical Society, Chinese Laser Press, and the Wuhan Documentation and Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly released the "2025 China Laser Industry Development Report (Detailed Version)". This report provides an in-depth analysis of the development trends of China's laser industry from multiple dimensions including policy, region, technology, products, market, and enterprises, offering objective data analysis and trend references for the sector's development.
Global and Chinese Markets: Divergence in Scale, First Decline in the Laser Cutting Segment
Report data shows that the global laser equipment market sales revenue reached $21.8 billion in 2024. Meanwhile, the scale of China's laser equipment market was 89.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.4%, yet still accounting for 56.6% of the global total, maintaining a dominant market position globally. Among the segments, the complete laser cutting equipment system market was affected by the ripple effects of the real estate downturn. Weakened demand in key application industries such as construction machinery and steel structures led to an estimated year-on-year decrease of about 15%-20% in equipment procurement. This drove the first decline in sales revenue for this segment: its market size was 30.43 billion yuan in 2024, down 5.1% year-on-year; the market size for this segment is projected to reach 29.6 billion yuan in 2025, a decrease of 2.7% year-on-year. Despite short-term pressure, laser cutting equipment remains one of the faster-growing segments within the machine tool field and holds a significant share in the global market, reflecting that its long-term industrial value remains unchanged.
Competitive Landscape: Top Players Concentration Exceeds 50%, SMEs Under Pressure
From a competitive perspective, China's laser cutting equipment industry is facing challenges such as product homogenization and intensified competition in the mid-to-low-end markets. Most companies are concentrated in the generic equipment sector, and converging technological pathways continue to increase market competition pressure. Leading enterprises, leveraging economies of scale for cost optimization, are further squeezing the survival space for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), making industry polarization evident. Sub-markets show differentiated characteristics: although precision laser cutting equipment started later and has a smaller overall scale compared to sheet metal laser cutting equipment, it demonstrates significant growth potential; the sheet metal laser cutting equipment market shows a clear trend of polarization. Looking at the overall competitive landscape, the combined market share of the top ten enterprises in the laser cutting equipment industry exceeded 50% in 2024, indicating a further increase in market concentration among leading players.
New Trends in China's Laser Industry: Regional Linkage and Key Breakthroughs
In 2024, China's laser industry exhibited a trend of "regional linkage and focused breakthroughs." Different regions are promoting industrial upgrading through differentiated paths: In Southern China, Guangdong issued a cluster action plan to promote the development of lasers and additive manufacturing through policy. In Central China, Hunan focused on laser additive manufacturing for special equipment, while Hubei listed multi-scale laser manufacturing as a breakthrough direction for digital manufacturing. In Eastern China, the Third World Laser Industry Conference held in Jinan became an important platform for international exchange and cooperation. Meanwhile, some enterprises in this region are also responding to changes in the competitive landscape through technological and capacity layout. Taking Bodor Laser as an example, it continues to invest in R&D of core components and capacity building, and has established a "Twin Engines" system with dual bases in Jinan and Shenzhen for collaboration, enhancing scale and market responsiveness.
Overall, China's laser industry is undergoing a transition from "scale expansion" to "quality improvement." In the future, regional policy guidance and resource sharing will continue to play important roles, while enterprises need to seek growth opportunities through breakthroughs in core technologies and in high-value-added segments.
Industry Outlook: Breaking Through Low-End Competition, Transitioning to High Value-Added and Globalization
The report points out that China's laser industry entered a phase of deep adjustment in 2024. Contracting demand in traditional industrial markets intensified industry competition. Although some sectors like consumer electronics showed signs of recovery and the pace of companies expanding overseas accelerated, it remains difficult to reverse the overall downward trend in the short term. The most direct manifestation is a 47.24% year-on-year decrease in the number of newly established laser enterprises in 2024, indicating a significantly accelerated industry reshuffle. Regarding future development, the report suggests that Chinese laser enterprises need to escape the intense competition in the low-end segment, extend into high-value-added areas, strengthen core capabilities through technological deepening, and simultaneously expand market space via globalized operations. Only by doing so can they achieve sustainable development and propel the industry gradually towards a new growth cycle.
