I used to see Hypertherm as the leader in plasma cutting technology. They made plasma power supplies, torches, and associated equipment. They won or lost on the designs of their machines and their technology. They did not have another cash cow business, such as filler metals or shielding gas. They concentrated on machines. Something has changed; I cannot find hard data, but somewhere around the early nineties, they have obsoleted and distanced themselves from the legacy machines. There are thousands of older Hypertherm systems that you can no longer support under OEM.

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As an obsover lookin from the outside. I cannot see the interworkings; I can only see the effects on everyday life. They seemed to be distancing themselves from the distributor and end user.

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Luckily for the user, their older power supplies are very robust. I never seen a transformer or power inductor fail. Relays, capacitors, contactors, and potentiometers were mostly "Off the shelf" common components. Most of of theri older circuit boards can still be repaired, if parts can be sourced.