Quantum Computing Industry: Global Technological Supremacy Race Accelerates at the 2025 Commercialization Turning Point
Editor
Transition of Quantum Computing from Laboratory to Commercialization
As of December 2025, the quantum computing industry is at a historic turning point. After being confined to theoretical and experimental domains for the past two decades, quantum technology is finally beginning to enter the stage of practical commercial application. The global quantum computing market grew by 15.4% from $1.3 billion in 2024 to $1.5 billion in 2025, and market research firm IDC forecasts it will grow at an average annual rate of 32.1% to reach $6.4 billion by 2030. This rapid growth is driven by groundbreaking advancements in hardware technology and emerging concrete use cases in industries such as finance, pharmaceuticals, and logistics.
A particularly noteworthy change is the significant improvement in the stability and error correction capabilities of quantum computers. IBM, headquartered in New York, announced the ‘Condor’ processor with 1,121 qubits at the end of 2024, claiming to have improved quantum error rates by more than 50% compared to previous levels. This indicates that quantum computing has reached a critical point where it can be used to solve real business problems. Simultaneously, Google, headquartered in Mountain View, California, recently announced a breakthrough in quantum error correction with its ‘Willow’ quantum chip, which is considered to have overcome a key technical barrier to the commercialization of quantum computing.
In the Korean market, interest and investment in quantum computing are rapidly increasing. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced a plan to invest 1 trillion won in quantum technology by 2030 through the ‘K-Quantum Initiative’ in 2024, with 40% or 400 billion won focused on the quantum computing sector. Samsung Electronics, headquartered in Suwon, is investing 300 billion won annually in developing next-generation quantum processors using Quantum Dot technology and plans to unveil a self-developed 50-qubit quantum computer prototype in the first half of 2025. This proactive investment by Korea is interpreted as a strategic move to emerge as a major player in the global quantum technology supremacy race alongside the United States, China, and the European Union.
The most important reason for the accelerated commercialization of quantum computing is its potential to solve complex computational problems that are impossible or would take decades to solve with existing computers in just hours or days. In particular, the financial industry is actively experimenting with quantum algorithms in areas such as portfolio optimization, risk analysis, and derivatives pricing. JP Morgan Chase, in collaboration with IBM, developed a portfolio optimization algorithm using quantum computing, achieving a 90% reduction in computation time compared to traditional methods. This is considered a concrete example demonstrating that quantum computing can create real business value beyond mere technical curiosity.
Quantum Computing Strategies and Competitive Landscape of Global Companies
Currently, the global quantum computing market is led by U.S. companies, but there is fierce competition with differentiated approaches to technology and commercialization strategies. IBM focuses on superconducting gate model quantum computers and, as of 2025, provides more than 200 quantum computers in the form of cloud services in over 30 countries worldwide. IBM’s quantum network includes more than 200 companies and research institutions, 40% of which are commercial users in finance, pharmaceuticals, and chemistry. IBM’s quantum computing-related revenue in 2024 increased by 78% year-on-year to $420 million, indicating a sharp increase in actual demand for quantum computing services.
In contrast, Google takes a research-focused approach, aiming to achieve Quantum Supremacy. Since claiming to have achieved Quantum Supremacy for the first time in 2019, Google’s quantum AI team has continuously focused on improving the performance of quantum algorithms. The Willow chip, announced in 2024, is smaller at 70 qubits compared to IBM’s large-scale systems but showed groundbreaking improvements in quantum error correction performance. Google is concentrating on developing new AI algorithms by combining quantum computing with machine learning and plans to commercialize a quantum machine learning platform in 2025. This is interpreted as Google’s strategy to create a new market by combining the existing AI ecosystem with quantum computing.
Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, uniquely focuses on Topological Qubit technology. This technology is expected to be more stable and suitable for commercialization than existing superconducting or ion trap methods. Microsoft achieved $200 million in annual revenue through its Azure Quantum cloud platform in 2024, a 156% increase from the previous year. Microsoft particularly excels in hybrid solutions that combine existing cloud infrastructure with quantum computing, enabling corporate customers to easily integrate quantum computing with their existing IT environments.
Intel, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is developing silicon-based spin qubit technology. Intel’s approach is evaluated as advantageous in terms of mass production and cost reduction because it can utilize existing semiconductor manufacturing processes. In 2024, Intel announced the ‘Tunnel Falls’ quantum chip, developed jointly with Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, which was noted as the first case of manufacturing quantum processors on a 300mm wafer. Intel’s approach holds significant meaning in terms of the popularization and cost-effectiveness of quantum computing.
China’s investment in quantum computing is also noteworthy. The Chinese government announced plans to invest $15 billion in the quantum technology sector from 2021 to 2030, with 60% focused on quantum computing. Baidu, headquartered in Beijing, provides quantum cloud services in China through its self-developed ‘Qianshi’ quantum computer, and Alibaba has also established a quantum computing research institute in Hangzhou, developing an 11-qubit quantum processor. This active investment by China shows that quantum computing is emerging as a new front in the U.S.-China technological supremacy competition.
Meanwhile, the European Union is investing 1 billion euros from 2018 to 2028 through the ‘Quantum Technologies Flagship’ program. IBM’s research lab in Germany installed ‘IBM Quantum System One,’ the first commercial quantum computer in Europe, and France’s Atos holds a leading position in the quantum simulator field. This global investment competition shows that quantum computing is recognized as a strategic technology directly linked to national competitiveness, beyond mere technological innovation.
Acceleration of Commercialization and Future Prospects
The most important field where the commercialization of quantum computing is accelerating is the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. In drug development, molecular structure simulation and protein folding prediction are complex calculations that take years even with existing supercomputers, but quantum computers have the potential to process them in just a few weeks. Roche, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is collaborating with IBM on a project using quantum computing for Alzheimer’s treatment development, with initial results showing an 80% faster molecular simulation speed compared to existing methods. This suggests the possibility of reducing drug development periods from the current 10-15 years to 5-7 years.
In the logistics and optimization sectors, the practical value of quantum computing is also being demonstrated. BMW, headquartered in Munich, Germany, conducted experiments using quantum computing to solve supply chain optimization and production scheduling problems, achieving a 30% efficiency improvement compared to traditional methods. Particularly, in complex supply chain networks connecting hundreds of production facilities and tens of thousands of parts suppliers worldwide, quantum algorithms can provide optimization levels impossible with existing computers. These achievements significantly increase interest in adopting quantum computing across the manufacturing industry.
In the financial services sector, the potential use of quantum computing is being explored not only in risk analysis and portfolio optimization but also in fraud detection and high-frequency trading. Barclays, headquartered in London, UK, reported achieving a 100-fold faster calculation speed in credit risk modeling using quantum computing compared to traditional Monte Carlo simulations. Additionally, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), headquartered in Toronto, Canada, developed a system to capture real-time arbitrage opportunities in foreign exchange trading using quantum algorithms, announcing a 15% increase in annual trading revenue.
However, there are still significant technical and economic barriers to the widespread adoption of quantum computing. The biggest issue is the operational cost of quantum computers. Currently, most quantum computers need to be maintained at cryogenic temperatures close to absolute zero, with the operational cost of dilution refrigerator systems alone reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. For IBM’s 1,000-qubit quantum computer, the initial installation cost is $15 million, with an annual operating cost of $3 million. This makes it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises or research institutions to own quantum computers directly, making cloud service access inevitable.
Additionally, the complexity of quantum programming is a major hurdle to commercialization. The development of quantum algorithms, which is completely different from existing programming languages, requires specialized education and training. Currently, there are an estimated 5,000 quantum computing experts worldwide, which is severely insufficient compared to market demand. McKinsey Consulting predicts that the demand for quantum computing professionals will reach 50,000 by 2030, ten times the current number, highlighting that workforce development is a key challenge for the advancement of the quantum computing industry.
Nevertheless, the growth prospects for the quantum computing market are very bright. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) predicts that quantum computing will create $850 billion in economic value globally by 2040. Of this, $300 billion is expected to be generated in the pharmaceutical industry, $200 billion in the chemical industry, and $150 billion in financial services. In particular, in Korea, the utilization of quantum computing is expected to be high in key industries such as semiconductors, chemicals, and automobiles, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) analyzes that quantum computing could generate an annual added value of 50 trillion won to Korea’s GDP by 2035.
As of 2025, the quantum computing industry is at a crucial period of finding a balance between technological maturity and commercial practicality. With rapid advancements in hardware technology, the development of quantum algorithms to solve real industrial problems is actively progressing, and cloud-based quantum computing services are gradually resolving accessibility issues. It is anticipated that killer applications of quantum computing will emerge in the next 3-5 years, driving rapid growth of the entire industrial ecosystem. If Korean companies’ proactive investments and government strategic support are combined, there is an opportunity for Korea to establish itself as a major player in the global quantum computing market.
