Podcast | Building a moat in the green laser sector through ‘horizontal expansion’

In May this year, Ringier Trade Media announced the final list of winners for the ‘2026 Laser Processing Industry – Ringier Technology Innovation Awards’. Among the winners, GZTECH received unanimous recognition from the expert judging panel for its ‘1,000W high-power green continuous-wave fiber laser’, successfully securing the ‘Innovation Team of the Year’ award. This award serves as a testament to the exploratory journey of this company, founded in 2018, which began with fiber MOPA technology and has gradually expanded into fields such as green fiber laser and ultrafast lasers.

We were recently fortunate enough to welcome Huang Zhihua, Chairman of GZTECH, as a guest on our podcast, where he spoke in detail about the technical breakthroughs, practical applications and market positioning of green laser products, as well as his dispassionate reflections on the phenomenon of ‘involution’ within the industry. The following content has been compiled from the podcast recording.

Huang Zhihua, Chairman of GZTECH

Part 1

Optimisation via Oscillators: Solving the Challenge of Second-Harmonic Generation Efficiency

It is widely recognised within the industry that the key challenges facing high-power green continuous-wave lasers lie in three areas: second-harmonic generation efficiency, thermal management and non-linear suppression. Huang Zhihua admits that early solutions were complex and costly; whilst overseas counterparts have already commercialised their products, second-harmonic generation efficiency is often limited by insufficient peak power.

According to him, GZTECH has optimised its oscillator technology to naturally generate certain pulsed characteristics during continuous operation—similar to ‘chopped pulses’—resulting in an effective peak power slightly higher than the average power, thereby significantly enhancing second-harmonic generation efficiency. Furthermore, the company’s R&D team has refined the fiber winding and heat dissipation structures through repeated iterations, whilst introducing green-laser-based closed-loop power feedback to effectively control power instability caused by fluctuations in the polarisation state at high power levels.

Regarding beam mode, GZTEH has not confined itself to single-mode operation but has instead developed a dual-compatible structure supporting both single-mode and multi-mode. Huang Zhihua stated: “This is primarily driven by market feedback. The flat-top spot produced by multi-mode output is more suitable for certain welding applications, whilst advances in transmission fiber materials have also made long-distance, high-power green laser transmission possible.”

GZTECH 1000W high-power green continuous-wave fiber laser

Part 2

Copper processing yield up by 30 percent; AI-driven cooling breakthroughs still some way off

Huang Zhihua revealed that GZTECH’s green continuous-wave lasers are currently being used in applications such as copper foil cutting, lithium battery electrode processing, copper welding and 3D copper printing. In some collaborative projects, customers have reported yield improvements of over 30 per cent. However, he also acknowledged that domestically produced green lasers face two practical hurdles: firstly, their performance requires repeated iterative validation against specific customer applications; secondly, costs remain relatively high, and the domestic production rate of core materials and components needs to be improved.

With the surge in AI computing power, thermal management for high-power chips has become a key focus. Due to its excellent thermal conductivity, copper is regarded as an ideal material for components such as liquid-cooled heat sinks, heat spreaders and microchannel flow paths. Faced with this emerging trend, Huang Zhihua remains cautiously optimistic.

“Realistically speaking, the upgrade to green laser cutting for lithium-ion battery electrodes in the new energy sector is likely to be implemented more quickly, as mature production lines are already in place. However, AI-related copper 3D-printed heat dissipation components are currently still in the validation phase.” He believes that the market will not experience a large-scale boom in 2026; significant growth may not materialise until 2027 or even 2028.

Recently, GZTECH’s green fiber laser has achieved a bench-top verification power output exceeding 2.5 kW; however, in terms of current applications, stable, engineered products operating at less than 1 kW remain the mainstream demand in the market. GZTECH has undertaken extensive customised development and performance optimisation of both pulsed and green continuous-wave fiber lasers to meet the specific industry needs of its clients, thereby enhancing its green laser product portfolio.

Regarding GZTECH’s market positioning, his approach is also very clear: to act solely as a laser supplier, working alongside equipment manufacturers and end-users to optimise laser design and process solutions.

Rendering of GZTECH ’s new headquarter

Part 3

Horizontal expansion builds a moat; high-quality production capacity remains perpetually scarce

Readers familiar with GZTECH will know that the company did not start out with green laser. When it was founded in 2018, the company initially entered the fiber MOPA laser market. Huang Zhihua summarised this approach as the ‘upward-climbing model’—starting from the mid-tier of the industry, selecting products with a certain technical barrier and a medium-sized market as a foundation, and then gradually expanding into areas such as green fiber laser and ultrafast lasers.

“If I had to choose again, I would still take this path,” said Huang Zhihua. “The current scale of the green laser market is not yet sufficient to support a company’s stable revenue. With products such as MOPA lasers as our foundation, we have built a solid R&D, production, sales and service system, which provides an excellent basis for the subsequent promotion of green laser technology.”

He particularly emphasised that GZTECH’s greatest success over the past few years has been the horizontal expansion of its product range. “We are one of the domestic industrial laser manufacturers with the most comprehensive product lines, and we have become highly adept at business models centred on new product expansion and industry-specific customisation. This in itself constitutes a moat that is very difficult to replicate.” He also revealed that once the new production base comes into operation this year, the scale of the green laser production line will be further expanded, becoming a key business segment for the company in the future.

Huang Zhihua did not shy away from addressing the fierce competition in the laser industry over the past two years. “Involution is a defining feature of the current stage of China’s economy, and it is not limited to the laser industry. This stems from the high level of maturity of domestic capital, talent and industrial capacity, with the market shifting from incremental expansion to competition within the existing market. However, the direction of this competition is towards ‘more, faster, better and cheaper’—products that solve problems, offer leading performance, ensure reliable delivery and maintain controllable costs. These aspects present a fair challenge to every enterprise.”

Rendering of GZTECH ’s new headquarter

He pointed out: “High-quality production capacity is always in short supply, and high-quality customers are always willing to pay for high-quality products.” Although GZTECH has secured funding, it has consistently adhered to prudent management and has not relied on capital injections to drive scale. Companies that are able to survive and thrive in a highly competitive environment are, in fact, better able to demonstrate their capabilities and sound judgement.

From fiber-coupled MOPA to high-power green continuous-wave laser, and from import substitution to product innovation driven by indigenous demand, GZTECH’s trajectory reflects a pragmatic approach adopted by Chinese laser manufacturers: rather than pursuing one-off technical feats, they build their own moat through the engineering and delivery of mature products and horizontal expansion via a robust product portfolio, all whilst navigating the industry’s evolution. Regarding the future of green laser, Huang Zhihua’s expectations are clear yet measured: to refine and deepen their expertise, and to drive market growth.

Editor’s Note

In interviewing Huang Zhihua of GZTECH, what left the deepest impression was his mastery of ‘pace’. At a time when the laser industry is generally chasing the latest trends, GZTECH began with fiber MOPA, built its product portfolio through ‘horizontal expansion’, and then gradually entered the field of high-power green continuous-wave laser. This steady and methodical approach has not only ensured the company’s stable revenue but also provided continuous support for cutting-edge R&D. Faced with market hotspots such as AI cooling, he remains cautiously optimistic; this pragmatic attitude—refraining from following trends or hyping products—is particularly rare in such a frenetic industry.

His reflections on ‘involution’ are equally thought-provoking. ‘High-quality production capacity is always in short supply’—this statement gets to the heart of homogeneous competition. When the industry descends into a price war, it is the companies that can genuinely address customer pain points and deliver reliable products that will stand out. GZTECH does not engage in ‘capital subsidies to drive scale’; instead, by focusing on real-world applications such as copper processing and lithium-ion batteries, it has achieved a yield rate of over 30 per cent for its green lasers. This competitive logic, driven by value rather than price, may well be the key to Chinese laser manufacturers transitioning from ‘growing in size’ to ‘growing in strength’.