Breakthrough in the Commercialization of Quantum Computing: Analyzing the Technological Convergence and Investment Boom of 2025
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Rapid Growth of the Quantum Computing Market and the Turning Point of Commercialization
In 2025, the quantum computing industry is reaching a historic turning point. According to a recent report by McKinsey Consulting, the global quantum computing market size has reached $15.2 billion this year, marking a 34% growth compared to the previous year. This figure represents more than a fivefold increase from the $2.8 billion market size in 2020. Notably, there is a surge in companies transitioning from the research and development stage to actual commercial services. Gartner’s Q3 2025 report indicates a 78% increase in companies utilizing quantum computing to solve real business problems compared to the previous year.
The backdrop of this growth includes an increasing number of cases achieving Quantum Advantage. IBM, headquartered in New York, announced in October that its 1,121-qubit quantum processor ‘Condor’ solved an optimization problem in just a few hours, a task that would take years for conventional supercomputers. Google (Alphabet), based in Mountain View, California, also revealed in early December that its ‘Willow’ chip completed a calculation in five minutes that would take 10²⁵ years on a traditional computer, showcasing its lead in the quantum advantage race. These technological breakthroughs have attracted the attention of investors and companies, with venture investments related to quantum computing reaching $4.7 billion in the first half of 2025 alone.
As the commercialization of quantum computing accelerates, practical application cases are emerging across various industries. In the financial services sector, JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are piloting risk analysis and portfolio optimization services using quantum algorithms. In the pharmaceutical industry, Roche and Merck are leveraging quantum computing to reduce new drug development time from the traditional 10-15 years to 7-10 years. In logistics optimization, DHL and FedEx reported improving delivery route optimization efficiency by 25-30% through quantum algorithms.
Global Technological Competition and Korean Companies’ Response Strategies
While the U.S. and China lead the race in quantum computing technology, Korean companies are seeking market entry with differentiated strategies. IBM currently holds a 42% market share in the quantum cloud service market, maintaining its lead. The company aims to develop a 5,000-qubit quantum processor by Q4 2025 and has already established quantum computing partnerships with over 200 companies worldwide. IBM’s quantum network includes Korean companies and research institutions such as Samsung Electronics, KAIST, and POSCO, contributing to the domestic quantum ecosystem.
Unlike IBM, which focuses on hardware, Google is pursuing a strategy centered on software and algorithm optimization. Google’s Cirq quantum programming platform has surpassed 150,000 monthly active users, securing its leadership in the quantum software ecosystem. Notably, Google announced this year that it achieved a learning speed 100 times faster than existing AI models in the quantum machine learning field, proving its position as a leader in quantum-AI convergence technology. In response, China’s Alibaba and Baidu are each investing over $3 billion annually in developing their quantum processors.
In Korea, Samsung Electronics, headquartered in Suwon, is focusing on developing semiconductor materials and components for quantum computing. Samsung announced that it completed the superconducting qubit manufacturing technology for quantum processors in the first half of 2025 and plans to begin commercial production in 2026. Samsung’s quantum semiconductor division is expected to record sales of 850 billion KRW this year, a 156% growth from the previous year. SK Hynix, located in Pangyo, is concentrating on developing memory technology for quantum computing and plans to commercialize cryogenic memory solutions capable of maintaining quantum states stably by 2026.
LG Electronics, headquartered in Seoul, is establishing a unique position in the quantum computing cooling system field. LG’s dilution refrigerator technology for quantum computing can cool down to an absolute temperature of 10 millikelvin and is currently supplied to three quantum computing research institutes in Europe. The company is projected to achieve sales of 120 billion KRW in this field by 2025, establishing itself as a key component supplier in the quantum computing hardware ecosystem. These strategies by Korean companies aim to play an indispensable role in the global quantum ecosystem by focusing on the core components of quantum computing systems.
In the quantum computing software market, Canada’s D-Wave Systems and the U.S.’s Rigetti Computing are gaining attention. D-Wave provides commercial systems specialized in quantum annealing technology, currently used by global companies like Volkswagen and Lockheed Martin to solve real business problems. Rigetti offers solutions connecting classical computers and quantum computers through a hybrid quantum-classical computing platform, with platform users surpassing 80,000 as of Q3 2025. The success of these companies is seen as evidence that quantum computing can create practical value in specific fields.
The use of quantum computing in the financial services sector is particularly noteworthy. The New York Stock Exchange introduced a high-frequency trading system using quantum algorithms this year, improving trade execution speed by 40% compared to existing systems. Barclays Bank, headquartered in London, developed a credit risk assessment model using quantum computing, enhancing loan approval accuracy by 15%. In Korea, Shinhan Bank and KB Kookmin Bank are expanding R&D investments for developing quantum computing-based financial services, investing 30 billion KRW and 25 billion KRW annually, respectively.
The application of quantum computing is also rapidly increasing in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. Novartis, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, reduced the time to search for candidate substances for Alzheimer’s treatment from six months to two months using quantum simulation. Gilead Sciences in the U.S. reported improving the accuracy of predicting side effects of HIV treatments to 85% using quantum machine learning. In Korea, Celltrion and Yuhan Corporation are investing 15 billion KRW and 12 billion KRW annually, respectively, to build quantum computing-based new drug development platforms, with plans to provide full-scale commercial services from 2026.
The practicality of quantum computing is also being demonstrated in logistics and supply chain optimization. DHL in Germany announced a 12% reduction in annual transportation costs through a global delivery route optimization system using quantum algorithms. UPS in the U.S. introduced a quantum-based real-time traffic analysis system, reducing delivery delay rates by 30%. In the domestic logistics industry, CJ Logistics and Hanjin are pursuing the introduction of quantum computing-based logistics optimization solutions, investing 8 billion KRW and 6 billion KRW annually in related technology development, respectively.
With the growth of the quantum computing market, new challenges are also emerging. The biggest issue is the limitation of quantum error correction technology. The error rate of current commercial quantum computers is between 0.1-1%, which can cause reliability issues in complex calculations. IBM and Google aim to reduce the error rate to below 0.01% by 2027, but additional technological innovation is needed to achieve this. The shortage of quantum computing professionals is also a serious problem. According to the McKinsey report, the global demand for quantum computing experts is increasing by 40% annually, but the supply is only growing at 15%, widening the talent gap.
In terms of security, quantum computing exhibits a double-edged sword characteristic. Concerns are rising that quantum computers could render current encryption systems ineffective, making the development of Post-Quantum Cryptography an urgent task. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced the Post-Quantum Cryptography standard in 2024, but actual adoption is expected to take 5-10 years. During this transition period, there is a risk of exposing vulnerabilities in existing security systems, necessitating proactive responses from governments and companies.
From an investment perspective, the quantum computing market is highly promising in the long term but is expected to show high volatility in the short term. According to PwC’s recent analysis, the quantum computing market is projected to maintain an average annual growth rate of 32% until 2030, reaching a market size of $125 billion. However, due to technological uncertainties and commercialization delay risks, individual companies’ stock prices are likely to fluctuate significantly. Therefore, investors should consider a strategy of diversified investment across the quantum computing ecosystem.
In conclusion, 2025 is expected to be recorded as the year when quantum computing transitions from laboratories to real business applications. As technological breakthroughs are achieved one after another, practical value is being demonstrated across various industries, providing a solid foundation for future market growth. Korean companies are also building unique competitive advantages in the semiconductor, component, and system sectors, expected to play a significant role in the global quantum ecosystem. However, it is a time for careful monitoring of risk factors such as technological challenges, talent shortages, and security concerns, requiring a phased approach.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment solicitation or advice. All investment decisions should be made based on individual judgment and responsibility.
