August/September 2008

By Benoit Bazire, CEO, Qioptiq Group

Gemma Church assesses the market for fibre optics beyond the telecoms industry

Greg Blackman touches on some of the technology and applications surrounding optical sensing

William Payne reports on the rise of micromachining applications for lasers

Warren Clark looks at the phenomenon of photonics clusters, which are springing up in Europe and beyond at an ever increasing rate

John Murphy profiles GSI, a company reaffirming its commitment to the photonics industry

The worldwide optoelectronics marketplace offers industry players a number of viable approaches for generating and sustaining attractive, profitable growth. Technology differentiation is generally a critical element in all of these approaches. The various approaches, however, seek to achieve technology differentiation in fundamentally different ways. Experience shows that all of the approaches can be successful, given the right conditions and sound technology and market strategies. Introduction of fundamentally new, breakthrough technologies is one particular innovation path, and is often the primary focus of corporate strategic plans. This approach aims to generate significant differentiation, and is typically associated with substantial, multi-year R&D and manufacturing investments.