Acceleration of Quantum Computing Commercialization: Bridging the Technology Gap and New Market Opportunities by 2025

The quantum computing industry is reaching a turning point towards commercialization in the second half of 2025. IBM, based in New York, announced in early November that its ‘Condor’ processor achieved 1,121 qubits, breaking previous records, while Google’s (Alphabet) California-based ‘Willow’ chip reduced logical error rates to the level of 10^-6, demonstrating a significant advancement in practicality. These technological breakthroughs are not just research achievements but are realizing applicability in real industries such as finance, pharmaceuticals, and logistics. McKinsey & Company recently reported that the global quantum computing market size is expected to grow explosively from $1.5 billion in 2024 to $85 billion by 2030, with an average annual growth rate of 81%.

Particularly noteworthy is the emergence of practical solutions to the quantum error correction problem, which was previously considered a technical limitation. Amazon’s AWS Braket service, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, saw a 340% increase in monthly active users in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the previous year, indicating significantly improved accessibility to cloud-based quantum computing. Simultaneously, IonQ, located in Waterloo, Canada, achieved 99.8% gate fidelity with its Forte system, proving stability at a commercially viable level. These technological achievements suggest a paradigm shift from quantum advantage to quantum utility.

The South Korean government is also aligning with these global trends, announcing an investment of 2.3 trillion won over the next six years through the ‘K-Quantum Computing 2030’ project. Samsung Electronics, based in Seoul, is focusing on developing cryogenic cooling systems for quantum processors, while SK Telecom, headquartered in Pangyo, invested 120 billion won this year alone to build quantum cryptography communication infrastructure. Notably, the 20-qubit quantum computer developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is being utilized by over 30 research institutions and companies domestically as of the first half of 2025, indicating a solid foundation for the domestic quantum computing ecosystem.

Practical Applications and Diversification of Business Models

The acceleration of quantum computing commercialization is leading to concrete business cases across various industries. Roche, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, announced that it reduced simulation time for molecular interactions in drug development by 85% using IBM’s quantum systems, which is estimated to save approximately $3.4 billion in annual R&D costs. In the financial sector, Goldman Sachs in New York reported a 47% improvement in risk calculation accuracy by adopting quantum algorithms for portfolio optimization, generating an additional $1.5 billion in annual revenue.

The utilization of quantum computing is also rapidly increasing in logistics and supply chain management. DHL, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, is using D-Wave Systems’ quantum annealing technology to solve global delivery route optimization problems, reducing fuel costs by 22% and delivery times by an average of 18%. These achievements are considered empirical evidence that quantum computing outperforms classical computers in solving complex combinatorial optimization problems classified as NP-complete. D-Wave Systems, based in Vancouver, Canada, recorded a 156% increase in revenue to $89 million in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, demonstrating the market potential of commercial quantum computing services.

In the energy sector, the innovative potential of quantum computing is being realized. Shell, headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is revolutionizing the catalyst design process through quantum simulation, improving oil refining efficiency by 12%. Additionally, TotalEnergies in Paris, France, announced a 31% improvement in oil reserve prediction accuracy through geophysical exploration data analysis using quantum algorithms. These achievements demonstrate that quantum computing is transforming the fundamental problem-solving methods of existing industries beyond mere computational performance improvement.

Technical Challenges and Changes in Market Competition

There are still technical challenges to be addressed in the commercialization process of quantum computing. The most critical issue is quantum decoherence, where the maintenance time of quantum states is limited to microseconds, restricting complex computations. IQM, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, succeeded in extending the coherence time of superconducting qubits to 500 microseconds, but industry consensus is that millisecond-level stability is needed for practical use. Additionally, the requirement for thousands of physical qubits per logical qubit for quantum error correction remains a challenge in terms of hardware scalability.

In terms of market competition, the existing duopoly of IBM and Google is showing signs of multipolarity. China’s Origin Quantum has strengthened its presence in the Asian market by building a 72-qubit system with its self-developed ‘Wukong’ chip, capturing a 34% market share in China’s quantum computing service market as of the first half of 2025. Fujitsu in Japan is also providing services specialized in solving combinatorial optimization problems based on its digital annealer technology, recording $230 million in annual revenue in the Asia-Pacific region.

Investment trends show that global quantum computing startups attracted a total of $4.7 billion in investments in the first half of 2025, an 89% increase compared to the same period last year. Particularly, Oxford Ionics in Oxford, UK, raised $380 million in a Series B round, accelerating the commercialization of ion trap quantum computing technology. Atom Computing, headquartered in Boston, USA, achieved 1,180 qubits with its neutral atom-based quantum system, drawing attention as a next-generation quantum computing platform. These diverse technological approaches are increasing the technological diversity of the quantum computing market, with movements to secure competitive advantages in specific application areas based on their unique strengths.

Significant changes are also occurring in the regulatory and policy environment. The amendment to the U.S. National Quantum Initiative Act passed Congress in September 2025, securing a federal government budget of $12.5 billion for quantum technology R&D over the next five years. The European Union also announced an investment of 10 billion euros by 2030 through the ‘Quantum Flagship’ program, with 60% focused on commercialization and industrial applications. China is investing 15 billion yuan in the quantum information science field as part of its 14th Five-Year Plan, prioritizing the construction of quantum communication infrastructure.

The cultivation of quantum computing talent and ecosystem building is also emerging as a crucial issue. Major universities such as MIT, Stanford, and Oxford are establishing specialized master’s and doctoral programs in quantum computing, and IBM’s Quantum Network currently includes over 200 universities and research institutions. In South Korea, Seoul National University, KAIST, and POSTECH have jointly established the ‘Quantum Information Research Institute,’ aiming to train 500 quantum computing specialists annually. These efforts in talent cultivation are expected to be a key foundation for the sustainable growth of the quantum computing industry in the long term.

As of the second half of 2025, the quantum computing industry is at a critical juncture where technological maturity and commercial practicality are intersecting. The emergence of technological breakthroughs and killer applications over the next 2-3 years is expected to determine the growth trajectory of the entire industry. If the transition to the quantum utility stage, which creates substantial business value beyond quantum advantage, is successfully achieved, quantum computing is likely to become a core driver of next-generation digital innovation alongside AI and cloud computing in the 2030s. In this context, strategic investments by companies, policy support from governments, and the establishment of international cooperation frameworks are analyzed to be increasingly important for the healthy development of the quantum computing ecosystem.

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*This analysis is based on publicly available market data and industry reports and should not be interpreted as investment advice. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the technology industry, there may be discrepancies with actual market conditions.*