Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Down to Business
  • Published:

The emerging commercial landscape of quantum computing

Quantum computing technologies are advancing, and the class of addressable problems is expanding. Together with the emergence of new ventures and government-sponsored partnerships, these trends will help to lower the barrier for adoption of new technology and provide stability in an uncertain market. Until then, quantum computing presents an exciting testbed for different strategies in an emerging market.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Trends in commercial quantum computing.

References

  1. Utterback, J. M. Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation 2nd edn, Ch. 2 (Harvard Business Review Press, 1996).

  2. Afuah, A. N. & Utterback, J. M. The emergence of a new supercomputer architecture. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 40, 315–328 (1991).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Maine, E. et al. The emergence of the nanobiotechnology industry. Nature Nanotechnol. 9, 2–5 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Chuang, I. L., Gershenfeld, N. & Kubinec, M. Experimental implementation of fast quantum searching. Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 3408 (1998).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Gassmann, O., Enkel, E. & Chesbrough, H. The future of open innovation. R&D Management 40, 213–221 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Evan R. MacQuarrie.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

S.S. and E.R.M. are employees of the quantum computing start-up company Photonic Inc.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Related links

Amazon announces partnership with Caltech: https://eas.caltech.edu/engenious/16/chair_message

Archer signs agreement with IBM: https://archerx.com.au//src/uploads/2020/05/20200505_Quantum-computing-agreement-with-IBM-ASX-Release.pdf

Becoming a quantum developer with Microsoft Quantum: https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/quantum/2020/05/19/azure-quantum-preview-new-developer-training-learning-tools/

Enabling Quantum Computing Platform Access for National Science Foundation Researchers with Amazon Web Services, IBM, and Microsoft Quantum: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20073/nsf20073.jsp

PsiQuantum joins Microsoft’s M12: https://medium.com/m12vc/welcoming-psiquantum-to-the-m12-portfolio-56926b455a8f

US investment in future technologies: https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/trump-administration-investing-1-billion-research-institutes-advance-industries-future/

Where Will Quantum Computers Create Value — and When? https://www.bcg.com/en-ca/publications/2019/quantum-computers-create-value-when.aspx

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

MacQuarrie, E.R., Simon, C., Simmons, S. et al. The emerging commercial landscape of quantum computing. Nat Rev Phys 2, 596–598 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-020-00247-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-020-00247-5

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing