Challenges and Opportunities for Securing a Robust US Quantum Computing Supply Chain

National governments around the world are moving to enact new quantum computing research activities or expand the scope and ambitions of existing programs, driven by a range of both national security and industrial competitiveness imperatives. The bulk of current and planned programs center on funding basic and advanced research in quantum technologies, primarily at national laboratories or related academic facilities.

According to a recent Hyperion Research study of 115 current and interested QC end-users from both HPC and enterprise IT organizations, the average budget of surveyed QC buyers/users, worth about $3.2 million in 2019, will grow at a 27% CAGR between 2019 and 2024. This growth includes follow-on budget commitments from existing QC users as well as new budget commitments from a tranche of survey respondents who are currently only considering QC involvement. However, the number of organizations that are not yet certain of budget timetables over the next four years remains relatively constant at about 15% of those surveyed. A strong anticipated growth rate in QC end-user budgets implies high expectations for QC developments that can support adequate return on investment or sector-relevant competitive advantage. Current and potential QC users likely will be looking for QC suppliers to roll out a series of steady technological and use case advances that provide assurance that the QC sector is successfully moving to achieve stability, reducing the risk of being an early adopter.