IDTechEx Investigates: How Close is Quantum Computing to Commercial Value?

BOSTON, July 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantum computing is a high-profile emerging technology frequently discussed but often misunderstood. Over the last decade, its development from lab to commercial technology has seen startups, established companies, and governments alike pursue the goal of building a full-scale quantum computer. The industry is now at an inflection point, where within the next few years, the technology must demonstrate scalability, realize use-cases, and secure early adopters to return value on the billions of US dollars already invested. Development roadmaps have accelerated, with several market leaders now predicting that commercially relevant quantum computing will arrive within the next 5 years.

The IDTechEx report "Quantum Computing Market 2026-2046: Technology, Trends, Players, Forecasts" covers the computing hardware at the heart of this quantum revolution, which is poised to create a market worth US$21 billion by 2046 with a CAGR of 26.7% through hardware sales alone. Recent breakthroughs have pushed quantum computing closer to the threshold for unlocking critical computational problems, including faster drug discovery, battery chemistry development, materials simulations, multi-variable logistics, fraud detection, and much more.

Drawing on extensive primary and secondary research, including interviews with companies and attendance at multiple global conferences, this report provides an in-depth evaluation and market forecasts for the eight leading quantum computing technologies: superconducting, silicon-spin, photonic, trapped ion, neutral atom, topological, diamond defect and annealers.

To assess the progress of the quantum computing industry, IDTechEx has developed the quantum commercial readiness level (QCRL) scale. This benchmark measures the progress of the industry from an end-user perspective, comparing the progress of quantum computing to the transition of classical computing from vacuum tubes to mobile phones, highlighting at which point value will be created from quantum computing for various different industries.

By 2029, quantum computers are expected to reach QCRL 4, representing the first application-specific commercial use cases, and reach versatile deployment by approximately 2034. The QCRL scale, along with a historical database created from IDTechEx research in the industry, forms the basis of this report's 20-year market forecasts, which break down both the volume and revenue generated by each of the leading quantum computer hardware types.

In addition to an analysis of the hardware approaches used today to build quantum computers, the Quantum Computing Market report provides context with an overview of their infrastructure, applications, deployment, and materials used. It provides clarity on this complex topic in the context of other technologies such as high-performance computing (HPC) and the data center industry, and a realistic outlook aimed at giving valuable insights to potential users, investors, adjacent industries, and materials suppliers.

As two of the most revolutionary technologies in modern computing, AI and quantum are often pitched as commercial rivals. However, the relationship between these two emerging technologies is far more complex, with recent developments suggesting that the joint deployment of both may unlock applications previously inaccessible in hybrid simulations or quantum-enhanced machine learning. The data center and HPC industries are early adopters of quantum hardware, aiming to leverage cloud computing services to enable the "quantum as a service" (QaaS) business model.

Geopolitical blocs and national governments have long shaped the quantum computing industry through funding and initiatives, with both the allure and threat of quantum supremacy driving it to the forefront of industrial strategy. At the same time, established computing giants such as Microsoft, Google, NVIDIA, and AWS are developing their own quantum strategies, with some pursuing a full-stack approach while others pioneer services and platforms to capitalize using third-party hardware.

Any player in the classical computing or data center space must prepare for the arrival of quantum computing, with hybrid quantum-classical deployment and new infrastructure demands such as cryogenic thermal management systems on the agenda. The first commercially available quantum computers are currently being deployed in HPC centers around the globe, and specialized cloud platforms are steadily gaining thousands of users.

The "Quantum Computing Market 2026-2046: Technology, Trends, Players, Forecasts" report breaks down the emerging quantum ecosystem into actionable insights for any party interested in developing, using, investing in, or providing materials for the quantum computing industry.

For more information on this report, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/QuantumComputing, or for the full portfolio of quantum technology-related research available from IDTechEx, see www.IDTechEx.com/Research/Quantum.

Contact:
Charlotte Martin
+44(0)1223812300
[email protected]

SOURCE IDTechEx