From April 22 to 24, the 15th AKL International Laser Technology Conference (AKL'26) was held at the Eurogress Convention Center in Aachen, Germany. This conference brings together users, manufacturers, R&D personnel and top experts in the global laser field to discuss the latest trends and practical solutions in the field of applied laser technology for production.
As one of the most influential international conferences in the field of laser material processing, and also regarded by many as the leading forum in the field of applied laser technology in Europe, this AKL International Laser Technology Conference attracted more than 500 professionals to attend the conference and set up more than 80 special reports to comprehensively present the latest progress of laser technology in the fields of market dynamics, core applications, cutting-edge science and artificial intelligence integration.
Global laser market scan: The competitive landscape is reshaped, Germany still holds the advantage
The "Technology and Business Forum" on the first day of the conference focused on the latest developments in the global and regional laser markets. Dr. Thierry Robin from TEMATYS Consulting Company, Dr. Stefan Ruppik from Coherent, Dr. Henrikki Pantsar from TRUMPF, and Dr. Gu Bo from BOS Photonics respectively delivered special reports on the European, German, American and Chinese markets.
Dr. Stefan Ruppik is Vice Chairman of the VDMA Professional Committee on Lasers and Laser Material Processing Systems. In his speech titled "Shaping the Future: German Laser Market and Emerging Technologies", he conducted an in-depth analysis of the market situation based on the latest data.
He pointed out that the German laser industry is stabilizing and rebounding after experiencing challenges. The United States is still the most important single market for the German laser industry, and the vitality of the Italian market has increased. At the same time, the importance of German exports to China continues to decline. Global competition is intensifying, especially the competitive pressure from China and Japan.
Other speakers also said that faster scale, sharper pricing pressure, strategic industrial policies and increasing technological capabilities are reshaping the global market landscape. Despite the tightening competitive environment, the guests at the meeting agreed that Germany still has important advantages - its profound engineering heritage, university talent pool, applied research capabilities, system expertise and complete and mature industrial base, which are regarded as its true core competitiveness.
Technical conference in full swing: from additive manufacturing to ultra-high-power light sources
On the second day of the conference, multiple parallel sub-venues were set up, covering the main application areas of current laser technology. The additive manufacturing sub-venue focused on laser powder bed fusion technology and discussed topics such as economical printing of large industrial molds, next-generation space power technology and enhanced control of LPBF processes. The laser cutting session covered adaptive beam shaping to reduce burrs, laser precision grooving in battery production, and the advantages of ultra-high power laser cutting compared to plasma cutting.
The laser light source sub-venue became the focus of attention. The report covered the industrial applications of ultra-high power lasers, continuous fiber lasers exceeding 100kW, as well as the system architecture and coherent beam combining technology of dynamic beam lasers above 100kW. The march toward higher performance systems never stops, and with it comes the urgent need for optics that can truly match it.
Also worth mentioning is the "desensitization" of national defense and fusion issues. High-energy laser applications for defense and fusion are part of this year's discussion - something that has been treated more cautiously at previous meetings.
Gerd Herziger Invited Session: Strategic Issues in the Laser Industry
The Gerd Herziger special conference held on Thursday morning was regarded by many participants as the most decisive session of this conference. Six speeches and a panel discussion discussed a core question: Where will the laser industry go in the future?
The meeting conveyed several key messages: First, lasers have quietly become core infrastructure - semiconductors, battery production, displays, medical diagnostics, data centers, national defense, robotics and future energy systems, and photonics has been deeply embedded in the value chain.
Second, the laser itself is no longer the whole story: future differentiation will come from software, sensing, AI-driven process control, integration, equipment uptime, production yield and ease of use. Value is shifting from individual components to integrated industrial solutions, and future competitive advantage will increasingly depend on the application capabilities surrounding lasers.
Third: The competitive landscape has changed. Discussions about China are particularly explicit. Faster scale, sharper pricing pressure, strategic industrial policies and increasing technological capabilities are reshaping the global market. Europe can no longer rely on its past advantages.
