A recent survey of enterprise organizations that already are working with quantum computing to some degree found that many of them intend to increase their commitments to the technology, and eventually their budgets as well. It is a curious finding, given that the same survey showed that not many of those organizations are exploring quantum computing for revenue-related or competitive reasons.
The study was conducted between August and October of this year by Hyperion Research and commissioned by D-Wave Quantum, a publicly-traded firm developing gate-model quantum computers and quantum annealing systems, and queried representatives of 300 organizations. Participating companies were required to be “currently engaged in some form of quantum computing efforts.”
Almost all of those participants–97%--reported that their processes of exploring and working with the technology have been very successful or at least somewhat successful so far. More than 80% said they plan to increase their commitments to quantum computing technology over the next two to three years, with about one-fifth of respondents adding that they even can “foresee” annual quantum computing budget eventually exceeding $25 million. A larger fraction of respondents–about one-third–said they foresee annual budgets of at least $15 million.
About half of respondents suggested the increased commitments and dollars will play out “at a measured pace,” so quantum computing may not be an overnight success story, but this is still pretty good news for a sector that is still working to find its footing.
“Quantum computing’s early adopters are recognizing the technology’s broad applicability in terms of industries and workflows, its numerous value and organizational benefits, and its growing importance to any commercial business’s compute environment,” said Bob Sorensen, chief analyst for quantum computing at Hyperion Research.
The link between growing interest and revenue prospects is less clear. It is worth noting that when asked about their organizations’ biggest value drivers for working with quantum computing technology, less than one-fifth–about 19%--said that increasing revenue was the greatest value driver. A larger number–26%--said that enhancing business process efficiencies was the biggest value driver.
Also, many organizations do not seem driven to work with the technology over competitive concerns. About 50% of respondents said their biggest organizational driver for pursuing quantum computing was to achieve potential performance improvements on key existing workloads, while only 33% said they were concerned about falling behind competitors.
Companies like D-Wave, IBM, Rigetti Computing, IonQ, Quantinuum, PsiQuantum, and more are developing quantum computing systems, but revenue remains low for now, and could stay that way for years, making the going especially rough for smaller pure-play quantum firms that have chosen to go public. D-Wave, IonQ, and Rigetti fit that description, and all three currently trade at prices much lower than their public debuts.