Photonics News No 80

…is something that every businessman would happily venture, if only to better protect his investment decisions. When we at LASER COMPONENTS review our data and analyze our indicators, we do not have any reason to doubt that business will continue to develop positively. In 2016, we were able to celebrate a new sales record, and our order books are full. The new year has begun even more strongly. Important new developments will be completed prior to the LASER trade show in June, and several long-term customer projects are on the verge of a breakthrough.

Everything would be fine if it were not for the current political environment affecting the world’s stable economic development with an uncertainty that has not been felt in a while.

The outcome of the election in the U.S.A. and the major upcoming elections in Europe, all with deeply extreme and populist sentiments, make reliable forecasting difficult. Strong currency fluctuations and the threat of tariffs poison the economy. The world is facing many challenges in terms of environmental protection and energy; a strongly nationalistic mentality will certainly not help solve these issues.

It is only a matter of time when the next crisis will come!

How is it that we are still able to glimpse so positively into the future, and how do we strengthen our upcoming investments?

In the past few years, LASER COMPONENTS has completed the transition from an exclusive sales office to one of the leading components manufacturers. Last year, the percentage of the products manufactured in house (of the entire Laser Components Group taken together) was more than 70%. Over the course of the past few years, we have also been able to establish many key technologies in house.

Photonic applications are an integral part of everyday life and play an increasingly crucial role in consumer products. Lasers and detectors will be integrated into products more and more in the future in the automobile industry, smartphones, and, most recently, the rapidly-growing drone market. Due to its existing technology pool, LASER COMPONENTS is an extremely attractive potential supplier. The growth potential is quite large due to these untapped market possibilities.
The contribution our components already make to increasing safety measures in everyday life is described in this edition.

Sincerely,

Patrick Paul
General Manager, Laser Components GmbH