A New Paradigm Redefining the Tech Industry Landscape in 2026: The Rise of Quantum-Classical Hybrid Systems
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A New Paradigm Redefining the Tech Industry Landscape in 2026: The Rise of Quantum-Classical Hybrid Systems
As of January 2026, the global tech industry is at a historic turning point with the practical implementation of quantum-classical hybrid computing systems. According to market research firm Gartner, the global quantum computing market size reached $1.8 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow by 89% to $3.4 billion in 2026. This rapid growth is driven by the fact that quantum computing technology has moved beyond the laboratory stage and is beginning to be applied to solve real business problems. Notably, the mainstream approach is not pure quantum computing but a hybrid approach with existing classical computing systems.
This change signifies a reorganization of the entire computing ecosystem beyond mere technological advancement. According to the latest report from the McKinsey Global Institute, hybrid quantum-classical systems are expected to create approximately $850 billion in economic value by 2030, bringing innovation across various industries, including financial services, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, logistics, and cybersecurity. Leading companies in this field include IBM (Armonk, New York), Google (Mountain View, California), Microsoft (Redmond, Washington), and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics (Suwon, Gyeonggi Province), each expanding market share through unique technological approaches and business strategies.
Technological Evolution and Market Trends of Hybrid Computing Systems
The core of quantum-classical hybrid computing lies in combining the problem-solving capabilities of quantum computers with the versatility and stability of classical computers. IBM’s latest quantum system, the Condor processor, features 1,121 qubits, about three times the number in 2023. More importantly, these quantum processors are seamlessly integrated with IBM’s classical computing infrastructure, making them usable in real corporate environments. The IBM Quantum Network currently includes over 200 companies and academic institutions, using approximately 150,000 hours of quantum computing annually.
Google’s approach is somewhat different. Based in Mountain View, California, Google integrates its Sycamore quantum processor with the Google Cloud Platform to offer cloud-based hybrid services. As of Q4 2025, Google Quantum AI’s cloud service recorded 12,000 monthly active users, a 340% increase from the previous year. Google is particularly prominent in the field of quantum machine learning (Quantum ML), a new form of hybrid approach combining existing AI/ML workloads with quantum computing. According to Google’s internal data, hybrid systems show an average of 23% faster processing speeds compared to pure classical systems in specific optimization problems.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is pursuing a different strategy through its Azure Quantum platform. Based in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft focuses on being a platform provider that integrates systems from various quantum computing companies like IonQ, Quantinuum, and Rigetti, rather than developing its own quantum hardware. This approach offers customers a wide range of choices, and Azure Quantum’s revenue in 2025 increased by 156% from the previous year, reaching $420 million. A unique aspect of Microsoft is its provision of the Q# programming language, which integrates quantum computing with the existing .NET development environment, making it easier for existing developers to access quantum computing.
Samsung Electronics, based in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, is focusing on developing quantum computing hardware, leveraging its strength in the memory semiconductor field. By the end of 2025, Samsung unveiled a hybrid system prototype utilizing its quantum memory technology, which is evaluated to have significantly addressed one of the biggest weaknesses of existing quantum systems: short coherence time. Samsung’s quantum-classical hybrid memory system shows approximately 45% improved stability compared to existing systems, which is considered a significant advancement for practical industrial applications.
Industry Applications and Economic Impact
The application of hybrid quantum computing in the financial services industry is particularly noteworthy. Since 2025, JP Morgan Chase has been using IBM’s quantum-classical hybrid system for portfolio optimization and risk management, with initial results being very encouraging. The hybrid system performs the same computational tasks an average of 18% faster than existing classical systems, achieving up to 35% performance improvement in complex probabilistic calculations like Monte Carlo simulations. This performance improvement directly translates into cost savings, with JP Morgan estimating annual computing cost savings of approximately $120 million.
The use of hybrid quantum computing is also rapidly expanding in the pharmaceutical industry. Roche, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is collaborating with Google’s Quantum AI to utilize hybrid systems in molecular simulations during drug development. In traditional drug development, molecular dynamics simulations require enormous computing resources and time, but using hybrid quantum systems can reduce the analysis time for specific molecular structures from weeks to days. According to Roche’s internal data, the initial drug candidate screening process using hybrid systems achieved approximately 40% faster speeds compared to existing methods, showing the potential to shorten the overall drug development period by an average of 8-12 months.
The influence of hybrid quantum computing is also expanding in the field of logistics and supply chain optimization. DHL, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, has been using Microsoft’s Azure Quantum platform for global delivery route optimization since mid-2025. DHL’s global network spans 220 countries, handling approximately 1.5 billion delivery packages daily. At this scale, route optimization is a typical NP-hard problem, making it difficult to find real-time optimal solutions with existing classical computers. However, after adopting hybrid quantum systems, DHL reduced average delivery time by 12% and fuel costs by about 8%, leading to an expected annual cost saving of approximately $350 million.
The application of hybrid quantum computing in cybersecurity is particularly noteworthy. While quantum computing poses a threat to existing encryption methods, it is also being used to develop quantum-based security solutions. Xanadu, headquartered in Waterloo, Canada, offers quantum-classical hybrid encryption solutions through its PennyLane platform, providing theoretically much stronger security than existing RSA encryption. Currently, about 50 financial institutions and government agencies are testing Xanadu’s hybrid security solutions, with initial results being very positive.
Investment Trends and Corporate Strategy Analysis
In terms of venture capital and corporate investment, the global investment in the quantum computing field reached approximately $2.4 billion in 2025, a 67% increase from 2024. Notably, the nature of the investment is changing. Until 2023, investments were heavily focused on basic research and hardware development, but since 2025, investments have been concentrated on the development of practical application software and hybrid systems. According to PitchBook data, investments in quantum software and hybrid system-related startups accounted for about 43% of the total quantum computing investment in 2025, a significant increase from 23% in 2023.
NVIDIA (NVDA), as a leading company in GPU technology, plays a crucial role in quantum-classical hybrid systems. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, NVIDIA supports quantum simulation and hybrid computing through its CUDA-Q platform, with quantum-related revenue in Q4 2025 increasing by 234% from the previous year, reaching $850 million. NVIDIA’s GPUs play a key role in the control systems of quantum computers and quantum-classical interfaces, particularly handling real-time calculations in the quantum error correction process.
Intel (INTC) is also actively entering the quantum computing field based on its semiconductor manufacturing technology. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Intel provides solutions integrating quantum computer control systems with classical computers through its Horse Ridge quantum control chip. Intel’s quantum-related revenue in 2025 was approximately $320 million, still a small portion of its total revenue, but with an annual growth rate of 180%, it is being noted as a future growth driver. Notably, Intel also manufactures chips for other quantum computing companies through its foundry business, holding an important position across the ecosystem.
In the Asian market, companies in China and Japan are also showing active movements. Baidu in China offers hybrid computing services through its quantum cloud service ‘Quantum Leaf’ in Beijing, with about 30,000 users in 2025. Fujitsu in Japan, headquartered in Tokyo, is developing hybrid systems combining its supercomputer technology with quantum computing. Fujitsu’s quantum simulator is currently used by over 20 universities and research institutions in Japan, with plans to launch commercial services in 2026.
From an investment perspective, the growth potential of the hybrid quantum computing market is enormous, but there are also high technical risks. According to the latest analysis by Goldman Sachs, the volatility of stocks related to quantum computing is about 40% higher than that of general tech stocks, reacting sensitively to news of technological breakthroughs or commercialization delays. However, from a long-term perspective, the hybrid quantum computing market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 32% by 2030, about four times the growth rate of the overall IT market.
At this point, investors should focus on the actual business applicability and integration capability with existing systems rather than the quantum computing technology itself. According to McKinsey’s analysis, the areas expected to show the most significant growth over the next five years are quantum-classical hybrid software platforms and quantum cloud services, with the market size in this field projected to reach approximately $15 billion by 2030. This indicates a shift in market focus from hardware-centric to software and service-centric, necessitating adjustments in investment strategies.
The rise of hybrid quantum computing signifies a change in the entire computing paradigm beyond mere technological advancement. As of 2026, this technology has begun to create value in real business environments beyond the laboratory, and it is expected to drive innovative changes across various industries over the next decade. Investors and companies are at a point where they need to establish strategies from a long-term perspective to prepare for this wave of change. Particularly for South Korean companies, there is an opportunity to occupy an important position in this new market based on semiconductor technology capabilities centered around Samsung Electronics, which also holds significant meaning for enhancing national competitiveness.
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