65% Growth in 3D Laser Scanning Sales

Sales of terrestrial 3D laser scanners topped US$ 44.8 million in 2004, according to Star Point's latest estimate – a growth of 65% over the year before. Participants in the terrestrial 3D laser scanner market include: Leica Geosystems HDS, RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems, Trimble Navigation, Zoller+Fröhlich, Optech Incorporated, FARO Technologies Inc., MDL (Measurement Devices Ltd.), I-SiTE Pty Ltd, Visi Image, Inc., CALLIDUS Precision Systems GmbH and SIS, Inc.

By Spar Point’s current forecast, terrestrial 3D laser scanner revenues will exceed US$ 65.9 million in 2005, up 46% over last year. They see no sign of slackening demand – the modestly lower growth this year is largely due to extraordinarily high growth last year driven by major new-product releases. The 3D laser scanner industry is a capital equipment business with product release cycles often longer than one year, which can result in irregular growth year-over-year.

As with the overall terrestrial laser scanning market, all indicators are that strong growth in hardware sales will continue for the foreseeable future. Practitioners and vendors agree the market has moved from early adopters to the beginnings of mainstream acceptance, driven by spreading recognition of how improved dimensional control aids design, fabrication, construction, operations and maintenance. Further spurring growth, Star Point believes, will be new hardware and software technologies now in development – they see no signs of softening in the industry's R&D investments.
These figures represent 3D laser scanner hardware revenue only, and exclude software, services and other collateral revenue. Market totals represent the sum of vendor revenue, not user spending. The market total is inflated compared with user spending because it includes intra-industry OEM sales by Z+F to Leica Geosystems HDS, but deflated compared with user spending because it excludes dealer markups due to equipment resale.