Business Description

Our Company IPG Photonics Corporation ("IPG", the "Company", the "Registrant", "we", "us" or "our") develops, manufactures and sells high-performance fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, diode lasers and laser-based systems that are used for diverse applications in materials processing, medical and advanced applications. Fiber lasers combine the advantages of semiconductor diodes, such as long life and high efficiency, with the high amplification and precise beam qualities of specialty optical fibers to deliver superior performance, reliability and usability. We sell our products globally to original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs"), system integrators and end users. We market our products internationally, primarily through our direct sales force. Our major manufacturing facilities are located in the United States and Germany. We have sales service offices and applications laboratories worldwide. We are vertically integrated such that we design and manufacture most of the key components used in our finished products, from semiconductor diodes to optical fiber preforms, finished fiber lasers and amplifiers. We manufacture complementary products used with our lasers including optical delivery cables, fiber couplers, beam switches, optical processing heads, in-line sensors and chillers. Our vertically integrated operations allow us to control quality, rapidly develop and integrate advanced products and protect our proprietary technology. We are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (ticker: IPGP). We began operations in 1990, and we were incorporated in Delaware in 1998. Our principal executive offices are located at 377 Simarano Drive, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752, and our telephone number is (508) 373-1100. Industry Overview Laser technology has revolutionized a broad range of applications and products in manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, medical, research, consumer electronics, semiconductors and communications. A laser converts electrical energy to optical energy that can be focused and shaped, creating a powerful, concentrated beam that causes materials to melt, vaporize or change their character. In a laser, an energy source excites or pumps a gain medium, which converts the energy from the source into an emission consisting of particles of light, called photons, at particular wavelengths. Lasers provide flexible, non-contact and high-speed ways to process and treat various materials and enable automated production, miniaturization and increasing product complexity. Lasers are utilized in materials processing applications requiring very high power densities, such as cutting, welding, marking, engraving, additive manufacturing, ablation and cleaning, printing, drilling and cladding. Historically, machine tools such as grinding machines, mechanical saws, milling machines, lathes, presses, water jet cutters, plasma cutters and welding machines have been used to cut, join, form or otherwise process metal in the production of finished goods such as automobiles, consumer appliances, electronics and heavy machinery. Also, lasers are utilized in applications that require consistent and stable operation with lower power densities, such as heating, cleaning and drying. Laser-based systems are gaining share within the materials processing market because of the greater precision, processing speeds and flexibility enabled by this technology. Beyond materials processing, lasers are well-suited for imaging and inspection applications and the ability to confine laser light to narrow wavelengths makes them particularly effective in medical, non-destructive inspection and sensing applications. Fiber Lasers Fiber lasers use semiconductor diodes as the energy source to pump a gain medium consisting of specialty optical fibers, which are infused with rare earth ions. These fibers are called active fibers and are comparable in diameter to a human hair. The laser emission is created within optical fibers and delivered through a flexible optical fiber cable. As a result of their different design and components, fiber lasers are more reliable, efficient, robust, compact and easier to operate than gas, crystal and solid state lasers that were initially used in industrial applications. In addition, fiber lasers free the end users from fine mechanical adjustments and the high maintenance costs that are typical for other laser technologies.…