IDC: Global Quantum Computing Market to Grow to $8.6B in 2027

The IDC report, Worldwide Quantum Computing Forecast, 2020-2027: An Imminent Disruption for the Next Decade, provides a global market forecast for a composite view of client spend for quantum computing (hardware, software, cloud, and other services) for the 2021-2027 period.

IDC Research

Customer spending on quantum computing is expected to rise from $412 million in 2020 to $8.6 billion in 2027, according to IDC. Over the predicted period of 2021-2027, this indicates a 6-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50.9 percent. Core quantum computing as a service, as well as enabling and adjacent quantum computing as a service, are all included in the projection.

The bulk of market growth will be driven by key advances in quantum computing technology, a developing quantum computing as a service infrastructure and platform industry, as well as the increase of performance heavy computing workloads appropriate for quantum technology, according to IDC. The global research company sees 2021 as a pivotal year in the quantum computing industry.

According to IDC, investments in quantum computing will expand at a CAGR of 11.3 percent over the next six years (2021-2027), reaching almost $16.4 billion by 2027. This comprises public and private institution investments, global government expenditure, internal allocation (R&D spend) from technology and services suppliers, and external funding from venture capitalists and private equity companies.

New Generation of Quantum Computing

Photo Heather West, senior research analyst, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group at IDC
“Advances in quantum computing will be a drumbeat over time with the most distant advances being most relevant to the most complex problems,” said Heather West, senior research analyst, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group at IDC.

The industry, like with every other breakthrough technology in recent decades, will invest billions of dollars to make the technology commonplace and ready for widespread use. The most comparable technology is classical computing, which quantum computing is attempting to undermine.

According to IDC, these investments will lead to the replacement of current limited quantum computing capabilities with a new generation of quantum computing solutions, resulting in the development of new use cases and market segments, accelerating the adoption of quantum computing for competitive advantage. As a result, at the conclusion of the projection period, the quantum computing industry will experience a boom in consumer spending.

“For many critical problems, classical computing will run out of steam in the next decade and we will see quantum computing take over as the next generation of performance-intensive computing,” said Peter Rutten, global research lead for performance intensive computing at IDC.

Quantum Computing Roadmaps

According to IDC, the year 2021 will be a watershed moment in the quantum computing sector. As vendors published quantum computing roadmaps emphasizing methods for improving qubit scaling and error correction, sought new funding opportunities by going public or partnering with government, educational, or private entities, or merged in anticipation of offering a more full-stack approach, strategic approaches to achieving quantum advantage became more defined.

For the most part, these strategies entailed continuing to create the quantum environment. As quantum computing suppliers strive for quantum edge and enterprise firms seek a competitive advantage using existing and forthcoming quantum technology, this trend is expected to continue until 2022 and beyond.

“Advances in quantum computing will be a drumbeat over time with the most distant advances being most relevant to the most complex problems,” said Heather West, senior research analyst, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group at IDC. “Organizations should start experimenting now using quantum road maps to guide their quantum journey.”

The IDC report, Worldwide Quantum Computing Forecast, 2020-2027: An Imminent Disruption for the Next Decade, provides a global market forecast for a composite view of client spend for quantum computing (hardware, software, cloud, and other services) for the 2021-2027 period.