Level with the previous year, 2003 shipments of industrial laser equipment and systems within North America together with US exports totaled $422 million, according to a report from the Laser Systems Product Group of the Association for Manufacturing Technology. As revealed by the 43 companies surveyed, shipments within North America totaled $316.1 million, while exports amounted to $105.9 million. The figures for CO2 laser systems and Nd:YAG lasers remained flat, compared with 2002, and cutting applications accounted for nearly 55 percent of dispatches. 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