The Advent of the Quantum Computing Era: The Crucial Turning Point in the Race for Commercialization and Technological Innovation by 2025
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The Current Landscape of the Quantum Computing Industry
As of November 2025, the quantum computing industry is transitioning from the research lab stage to a decisive turning point towards commercialization. The global quantum computing market is projected to grow from $1.8 billion in 2025 to $12.5 billion by 2030, with an average annual growth rate of 46.8%, surpassing that of artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Notably, the performance improvements in IBM’s 1,121-qubit quantum processor ‘Condor’ and Google’s 70-qubit ‘Sycamore’ chip have drawn attention, intensifying the competition to achieve quantum supremacy.
IBM, headquartered in New York, is making the most aggressive investments in the field of quantum computing. The company announced a $3 billion investment in quantum computing R&D by 2025 and has established a quantum network with over 200 institutions across 20 countries. IBM’s quantum cloud service has surpassed 150,000 monthly active users, an 85% increase from the previous year. Notably, IBM’s quantum processors demonstrate computational speeds 1,000 times faster than conventional supercomputers in portfolio optimization for financial institutions and molecular simulations for pharmaceutical companies.
Google (Alphabet), based in Mountain View, California, is taking a different approach. Google’s quantum AI division announced a breakthrough in ‘quantum error correction’ technology in the first half of 2025. The research team successfully reduced the logical qubit error rate to one-tenth of that of physical qubits, marking a critical milestone in the implementation of practical quantum computing. Google plans to officially launch its quantum computing cloud service ‘Google Quantum AI’ in the second half of 2025, targeting the automotive, chemical, and financial industries as initial customers.
Microsoft, headquartered in Washington, is focusing on topological qubit technology. This technology is more resistant to errors than existing superconducting or ion trap methods, but its complexity delays commercialization. However, Microsoft is expanding its ecosystem through partnerships with various quantum hardware providers via the Azure Quantum platform. Currently, Azure Quantum offers an integrated platform to access quantum hardware from five companies, including IonQ, Rigetti, and Honeywell.
Challenges and Technological Differentiation of Emerging Companies
IonQ, based in Maryland, is a quantum computing specialist company based on ion trap technology, showing steady growth since its listing through a SPAC in 2021. IonQ’s revenue for the third quarter of 2025 was $18.5 million, a 102% increase from the same period last year, with significant achievements in government contracts and corporate client acquisition. The company’s ‘IonQ Forte’ system achieved a gate fidelity of 99.8% with a 32-qubit capacity, the highest in the industry. IonQ aims to launch a 64-qubit system by the end of 2025, which is expected to enable practical quantum applications.
In South Korea, Samsung Electronics is actively entering the quantum computing field. Samsung established a quantum computing research lab at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology in early 2025 and announced plans to invest 500 billion won over the next five years to focus on quantum semiconductors and algorithm development. Samsung is leveraging its existing semiconductor manufacturing expertise to develop mass production technology for quantum processors, aiming to establish a commercially viable quantum chip production line by 2027. Samsung’s quantum computing research primarily focuses on encryption technology and 5G/6G communication optimization.
The competitive landscape of the quantum computing industry is largely divided into three camps based on technological approaches. The first is the superconducting qubit method led by IBM and Google, which can currently implement the largest number of qubits but requires ultra-low temperature cooling. The second is the ion trap method led by IonQ and Honeywell, which has high qubit quality but limited scalability. The third is the topological method being developed by Microsoft, which is theoretically the most stable but remains in the demonstration phase.
In practical application fields, encryption and cybersecurity are the most notable areas. The widely used RSA encryption system is estimated to take about 10 hours for a quantum computer to decrypt a 4,096-bit key, a task that would take billions of years with conventional computers. Consequently, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced the Post-Quantum Cryptography standard in 2024, and as of 2025, its adoption by financial and government institutions is in full swing. JP Morgan Chase announced plans to gradually adopt post-quantum cryptography from the second half of 2025 and has signed a $100 million technology collaboration agreement with IBM over five years.
In the field of drug development, the use of quantum computing is rapidly increasing. Swiss company Roche announced that using IBM’s quantum computer for molecular simulations of Alzheimer’s drug candidates reduced computation time by 70% compared to traditional methods. Additionally, German company Bayer partnered with Google to introduce quantum computing in the optimization research of agricultural chemicals, aiming to complete the development of three new compounds by the end of 2025. Pharmaceutical industry experts predict that quantum computing could reduce the drug development period from the current 10-15 years to 5-7 years.
In the financial services sector, quantum computing technology is beginning to be applied to portfolio optimization and risk management. Goldman Sachs collaborated with IonQ in early 2025 to introduce quantum algorithms into derivative pricing models, reporting a 100-fold improvement in computation speed compared to traditional Monte Carlo simulations. Barclays also announced a 15% improvement in prediction accuracy by applying quantum machine learning techniques to credit risk assessment. The financial industry expects quantum computing to enable real-time risk management and high-frequency trading optimization.
Technical Challenges and Future Prospects
The biggest technical challenge facing the quantum computing industry is qubit stability and error correction. Currently, quantum states are highly sensitive to external environments, leading to rapid information loss due to decoherence. Even IBM’s latest quantum processor has a qubit coherence time of only 100 microseconds, which is still insufficient for performing complex calculations. To address this, the industry is focusing on developing quantum error correction codes, and Google has set a goal to reduce overhead to fewer than 1,000 physical qubits per logical qubit by the end of 2025.
Talent acquisition is also a major challenge for the quantum computing industry. According to McKinsey Consulting, there are only about 25,000 quantum computing professionals worldwide, but the demand is expected to reach 1 million by 2030. Consequently, major companies are expanding collaboration programs with universities. IBM is operating quantum education programs with 200 universities worldwide by 2025, aiming to train 5,000 quantum computing experts annually. In South Korea, KAIST and Seoul National University have established quantum computing graduate programs, and large corporations like Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are actively recruiting.
In terms of investment, the quantum computing sector is recording unprecedented levels of funding as of 2025. Global quantum computing startups raised $2.8 billion in the first half of 2025 alone, a 65% increase from the same period last year. Investments in quantum software and algorithm development companies are particularly surging, with Cambridge Quantum Computing raising $215 million in a Series B round. Venture capitalists predict that quantum computing will become as important a technological field as artificial intelligence by the 2030s.
Government policies and international competition are also key drivers of quantum computing industry development. The United States is investing $1.2 billion through the National Quantum Initiative by 2025, while China is constructing a national research institute in the quantum information science field with a $15 billion budget. The European Union is investing 1 billion euros over ten years through the Quantum Technology Flagship program. The South Korean government announced the ‘K-Quantum Computing 2030’ plan in 2025, committing 2 trillion won over the next five years to build a quantum computing ecosystem. Such national investments are making quantum computing a core area of next-generation technological supremacy.
The future of the quantum computing industry depends on balancing hardware performance improvements and software ecosystem development. On the hardware side, the goal is to implement stable quantum systems with over 10,000 qubits by 2030, enabling the solution of realistic optimization problems. On the software side, the focus is on developing quantum algorithms and building hybrid systems with existing classical computers. Industry experts assess that as of 2025, quantum computing is at a critical juncture transitioning from ‘experimental supremacy’ to ‘practical supremacy,’ with the next 3-5 years being a decisive period for commercialization success.
*This article is intended for informational purposes only and is not a solicitation or recommendation for investment. All investment decisions should be made at the reader’s discretion and responsibility.
