Company: IPGP
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001111928-25-000023
Chunk: 65

Company: IPG PHOTONICS CORP
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 65
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petition

Our markets are highly competitive and characterized by rapidly changing technology, continuously evolving customer requirements and reduced average selling prices over time. In the materials processing market, we compete with makers of fiber lasers and other lasers, such as Coherent, Inc., Laserline GmbH, Lumentum Holdings Inc., Maxphotonics Co., Ltd., MKS Instruments, Inc., nLight, Inc., Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG and Wuhan Raycus Fiber Laser Technologies Co. Ltd., as well as other smaller competitors. Some of our customers have developed products for their own use which are competitive to our products. Such vertical integration by our customers could reduce the market opportunity for our products.  Many of our fiber laser competitors are increasing the output powers of their fiber lasers and reducing sales prices to compete with our products. 

We also compete with our customers that produce their own laser technology as well as with manufacturers of non-laser methods and tools, such as traditional non-laser welding, cutting dies, mechanical cutters and plasma cutters in the materials processing market. 

Some of our competitors are larger than we are and have substantially greater financial, managerial and technical resources, more extensive distribution and service networks, greater sales and marketing capacity, and larger installed customer bases than we do.

Backlog

At December 31, 2024, our backlog of orders (generally scheduled for shipment within one year) was approximately $636.2 million compared to $691.4 million at December 31, 2023. At December 31, 2024, our backlog included $371.1 million of orders with firm shipment dates and $265.1 million of frame agreements that we expect to ship within one year, compared to $401.1 million of orders with firm shipment dates and $290.3 million of frame agreements at December 31, 2023. Frame agreements are non-binding indications of customer pricing and volume levels but are not firm customer purchase obligations with delivery dates. Orders used to compute backlog are generally cancellable without substantial penalties or any penalties. We anticipate shipping a substantial majority of the present backlog during fiscal year 2025. However, our backlog at any given date is not necessarily indicative of actual sales for any future period.

Employees and Human Capital Management

Our employees are our most valuable assets. They contribute to IPG’s success and, in particular, the skilled and experienced employees within our manufacturing, sales, service, research and development and quality assurance departments are instrumental in driving operational execution