The Quantum Technologies Industry: Growth, Innovation, and Prospects

2025 is being called a turning point for the quantum technology industry—for the first time in four years of market monitoring, McKinsey has recorded a fundamental paradigm shift: from development to commercial deployment. The UN has officially declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, marking the 100th anniversary of the development of quantum mechanics. However, today, this is no longer just a beautiful date, but one of the signs that the quantum technology industry has reached commercial maturity.

What is quantum computing and quantum technology?

Quantum computing utilizes the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics—superposition and quantum entanglement—to process information in ways inaccessible to classical computers. Unlike conventional bits, which can only exist in either a 0 or a 1 state, qubits (quantum bits) can exist in multiple states simultaneously until measured, enabling massively parallel computations. Quantum entanglement creates instantaneous communication between particles regardless of distance, enabling coordinated data processing.

These properties give quantum systems a unique advantage in solving certain types of problems, from factoring large numbers to modeling complex molecular systems.

Quantum technology, in turn, is a field of physics that utilizes the specific properties of quantum mechanics to create fundamentally new systems and devices. It encompasses much more than just quantum computing. Today, the quantum technology industry is shaped by three areas:

Quantum computing is the creation of computers that use qubits to solve problems that are inaccessible to classical systems.
quantum communications – development of absolutely secure communication networks based on quantum key distribution and quantum teleportation;
Quantum sensors – the creation of ultra-precise sensors for medicine, navigation, archeology, and scientific research.

We are now at the beginning of the “second quantum revolution,” when scientists have learned to control complex quantum systems at the level of individual particles—atoms, ions, electrons, and photons. And while full-scale quantum computers are still developing, quantum technologies are already finding targeted applications in various fields: finance, medicine, research, and more.

How much is being invested in quantum technologies, and how quickly is the market growing?

The quantum market is attracting significant investment flows. According to a McKinsey report, private investment in quantum technology startups has reached $6.7 billion for quantum computing, $1.2 billion for quantum communications, and $0.7 billion for quantum sensors, although overall investment in quantum startups has declined by 27% year-on-year in 2023. Despite these fluctuations, investors remain optimistic about the long-term prospects. Meanwhile, public funding remains strong: as of 2023, governments worldwide have pledged approximately $42 billion for quantum technology development.

The quantum computing market is expected to grow rapidly. According to Fortune Business Insights, the market is expected to grow from $928.8 million to $6.5 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 32.1%. Further market size scenarios, including McKinsey analysis, suggest that the quantum computing market alone could reach $28 billion to $72 billion by 2035 and $45 billion to $131 billion by 2040. This growth is part of a broader trend in which quantum technologies could create up to $2 trillion in economic value in key industries such as chemicals, life sciences, finance, and transportation by 2035.

Who is leading the quantum technology industry?

The quantum technology industry landscape includes both major established players and numerous startups. Notable companies actively developing hardware, software, and platforms include Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Pasqal. In the quantum computing field alone, there are more than 261 startups developing hardware, software, and services, with equipment manufacturers continuing to attract the largest amount of investment.

These leading companies are making significant progress. For example, Google Quantum AI unveiled Willow, its latest cutting-edge quantum chip, which demonstrates “exponential quantum error correction below the threshold!” and completed a benchmark calculation in less than five minutes that would take a supercomputer 10 septillion years (1025 years). Hartmut Neven, founder and CEO of Google Quantum AI, emphasizes that Willow is “a compelling sign that useful, very large quantum computers can indeed be built.”

IBM Quantum is also a major force with the mission of creating quantum computers to solve otherwise intractable problems. They have developed a powerful quantum computing stack and presented an ambitious roadmap for achieving quantum advantage by 2026, aiming to build a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, Starling, capable of performing 100 million quantum operations on 200 logical qubits by 2029. Matthias Troyer, a technical fellow at IBM, notes their commitment: “From the very beginning, we wanted to build a quantum computer for commercial applications, not just for intellectual leadership.” IBM also operates 15+ utility-scale quantum systems worldwide, and its Heron chip has 156 qubits.

Microsoft has blazed a new trail with its Majorana 1 chip, based on a topological architecture. This breakthrough uses topological wires to create more robust and scalable qubits, with a clear path to accommodating a million qubits on a single chip. As Chetan Nayak, a technical fellow at Microsoft, states, “Whatever you do in the quantum space, you must have a path to a million qubits. If you don’t, you’ll hit a wall before you reach the scale needed to solve the really important problems that motivate us.” Microsoft’s approach aims for hardware-level error tolerance, simplifying quantum computing through digital control.

Many companies are pursuing multiple quantum technologies simultaneously, and some offer quantum computing as a service (QaaS), allowing businesses and researchers to access quantum computing power through the cloud without building their own hardware.

World centers of quantum technologies

Quantum technology development is occurring globally, with vibrant regional ecosystems emerging in North America, Asia, and Europe. These innovation clusters are critical for fostering close collaboration between government, academia, and industry, which is essential for advancing the technology and key use cases.

The United States leads individual countries in the number of quantum computing patents issued, as well as in private funding and the number of quantum computing startups. Key innovation hubs include the Boston Area Quantum Network, the Chicago Quantum Exchange, and the Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance.
China boasts significant public investment (over $15 billion ), specialized research institutes, and growing patent activity, particularly in quantum communications. Hefei is noted as a key innovation cluster.
India has launched the National Quantum Mission with $730 million in funding and plans to establish 21 quantum hubs and 4 quantum research parks.
Israel has a quantum computing consortium researching various qubit technologies, backed by $368 million in government funding.
European countries such as France, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands also have significant public funding and research centers. The European Union and the UK lead in the number and density of QT graduates. Notable clusters include Paris (France), Delft (Netherlands), and Munich Quantum Valley (Germany).

Challenges of the quantum technology industry

Despite significant momentum, the widespread adoption of quantum technologies faces several obstacles. These include:

Technological immaturity and cost: Quantum technologies are still in the early stages of development, which is associated with high costs for complex cooling technologies and specialized equipment for the systems.
The Difficulty of Scaling and Error Correction: Qubits are inherently fragile and error-prone, requiring advanced error-correction techniques. While breakthroughs like Google’s Willow chip demonstrate exponential reductions in below-threshold errors, and Microsoft’s Majorana 1 aims for hardware-level error tolerance, reducing the overhead of quantum error correction remains a practical challenge for large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Significant talent shortage: One of the most serious challenges is the shortage of qualified specialists. McKinsey predicts that by 2025, less than half of the available quantum jobs could be filled, creating a significant barrier to adoption. This underscores the ongoing need for extensive educational initiatives, such as those offered by IBM, which have reached over 5.4 million learners, and Google’s Coursera course on quantum error correction.
Lack of standardized benchmarks and algorithms: Although various performance benchmarks exist, a clear, industry-wide standard is still under development, making it difficult to consistently evaluate performance in real-world applications and compare different qubit technologies. Most quantum algorithms are still theoretical and not fully implemented on quantum computers, limiting immediate high-speed operations.

Prospects of Quantum Technologies: When Will Quantum Computing Become Massive?

The current state of quantum technologies is one of active development and significant investment, with a clear focus on overcoming technical challenges to realize their full potential. While experts estimate it may take another 15–20 years for large-scale applications to become widespread, useful applications for specific tasks may emerge sooner.

Resources for studying quantum technologies

For individuals and organizations interested in learning more about quantum technologies, there are many resources available:

The long-term outlook remains positive, bolstered by the continued growth of job openings in technology trends and increased interest in leveraging these technologies for future growth. Quantum computing is projected to revolutionize a variety of industries over the next two decades, including medicine, finance, automotive, engineering, and cybersecurity. Initiatives such as DARPA’s US2QC program are actively working to create robust, utility-scale quantum computers, emphasizing that the horizon for transformative, real-world solutions is years, not decades.
Educational Resources: Platforms such as Google’s Coursera offer free introductory courses on quantum error correction. IBM Quantum Learning also offers extensive educational initiatives, including the “Understanding Quantum Information and Computation” series, designed to teach the fundamentals of quantum computing at the university level.
Open-source tools: Access to tools like Google Quantum AI’s Cirq and IBM’s Qiskit SDK allows developers to gain hands-on experience and contribute to the quantum ecosystem.
Research and Publications: Stay up-to-date by reading research publications from leading quantum AI teams, which can often be found on their corporate websites or in academic archives such as arXiv.

Quantum technologies are moving from the lab to real-world businesses, meaning that individual companies will be able to realize commercial benefits from quantum computing as early as this decade. This creates a dual challenge for our clients: protecting existing data by transitioning to post-quantum cryptography and preparing infrastructure for integration with future quantum platforms via cloud services. A new ecosystem is already emerging, where quantum computing will become part of hybrid IT solutions alongside AI and high-performance classical systems. Our role as an infrastructure partner is to help companies prepare for these changes today. Then, tomorrow, they will be able to leverage quantum advantages to solve their business problems.”

What’s Important About the Quantum Computing Industry in 2025?

The UN has declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
Google Willow completes tasks in 5 minutes instead of 10 septillion years for supercomputers.
IBM plans to launch a 200-qubit Starling quantum computer by 2029.
Microsoft Majorana 1 paves the way to a million qubits on a single chip.
Quantum computing as a service (QCaaS) is now available in leading data centers.
Mass distribution is expected by 2026-2030 through cloud platforms.

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