Fiber laser and amplifier maker IPG Photonics Corp. reported Thursday that revenue for the third quarter increased by 29 percent to $62 million, driven by strong sales of its lasers for materials processing applications -- up 47 percent from a year ago -- as well as to North American, European and Asian markets. Net income increased by 27 percent over the third quarter of 2007, to nearly $11 million, the company reported. For the first nine months of 2008, revenue increased 28 percent to $170.9 million from $133.6 million a year ago and net income increased by 28 percent to $27.6 million from $21.6 million in the same period last year. "The industrial marketplace continues to embrace our fiber lasers as a more reliable, robust, efficient and flexible manufacturing solution that also provides the financial advantages of lower costs and higher throughput compared with conventional processes," said Dr. Valentin Gapontsev, IPG Photonics CEO, adding that the materials processing market continues to be the company's strongest revenue driver. "Geographically, all of our major markets achieved at least double-digit gains, with sales to Japan increasing by 110 percent," he said. "Sales of our medium-powered lasers more than doubled and pulsed laser sales continued to be strong with a 42 percent increase over the prior year, driven by demand for photovoltaic manufacturing and marking applications." The company said it expects revenue for the fourth quarter of 2008 to be in the range of $57 million to $62 million, and earnings per diluted share in the range of 19 cents to 23 cents. "As we enter what promises to be one of the most challenging economic times in recent memory, we believe that IPG and its products are well positioned. We expect high-power laser sales to remain strong in the fourth quarter. However, we expect that this strength will be offset by lower sales of our pulsed laser products in certain Asian markets. Also, the effect of a weakening euro has lowered our estimates by approximately $3 million," Gapontsev said. For more information, visit: www.ipgphotonics.com