Lumenis (Stock symbol LUME), formed by the merger of ESC Medical and Coherent, hit a record low this week.

Lumenis, which develops laser and intense pulsed-light devices for use in hair removal and other medical applications, blamed the loss on slow sales in Europe.

Reuters: Lumenis woes

Some of the common brands of hair removal devices made by Lumenis include LightSheer, EpiLight, and PhotoDerm.

I read in an optics industry magazine that the laser hair removal market is becoming saturated. Most dermatologists and plastic surgeons that are going to provide laser hair removal have already bought their lasers I suppose. One of the laser manufacturers' strategies is to now market to family practice physicians, the primary providers. They are going to introduce smaller and cheaper lasers, or maybe they'll just cut prices.

I wonder if less people are going for hair removal given the state of the economy and the tendency of consumers to hold back on large expenditures. That's just a theory though.

RJC2001