GCRI · Quantum Technologies
Quantum industries
Quantum technology is moving from laboratories into firms that build hardware, software, components and services, supported by large public and private investment. Revenues are small relative to expectations, many products are prototypes, and supply chains for specialised components are thin. This page sets out how quantum industries are developing, how their activity is measured without hype, and what evidence serves investors, governments and buyers.
How the work runs.
Post-quantum migration tracker
Quantum industries · Crypto inventory · Wave 4
Migration
- Inventoryall crypto
- Prioritisedata lifetime
- Selectstandard algorithms
- Hybrid deployclassical and PQC
- Testinterop
- Cut overretire
Systems by priority
| Archive signing | RSA-2048 | 28 | ML-DSA hybrid | Piloting |
| VPN gateway | ECDH | 10 | ML-KEM hybrid | Planned |
| Payments HSM | RSA-3072 | 10 | Vendor roadmap | Blocked |
| Web TLS | ECDHE | 3 | Hybrid key exchange | Done |
Progress
Fig.Post-quantum migration tracker: example names and illustrative values, not a record or a live system.
Quantum industries: how the risk develops.
Potential supply chains and applications. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.
Investment precedes revenue
Public programmes and venture capital fund firms years before products earn significant revenue. Expectations can run ahead of technical progress.
Enablers form a supply chain
Cryogenics, lasers, control electronics and photonic components are supplied by specialised firms, often few per component.
Cloud access shapes the market
Most users access quantum hardware through cloud services, which lets them experiment without owning machines.
Policy drives location
National strategies, procurement and export controls shape where firms locate and who they can sell to.
How quantum industries is modelled, measured and tested.
The model, its assumptions, its data and its uncertainty, in the form a scientist or engineer would check. Structures follow published methods. The values drawn are illustrative, not findings.
System model
The couplings between the systems in quantum industries: signs of influence, a reinforcing and a balancing loop, and cross-links where stress jumps.
Quantum industries are early, and claims outrun evidence.
- EnergyCouplingOptimisation claims for energy systems need classical benchmarks.What to watchBenchmarked advantage
- FoodCouplingLogistics optimisation claims need fair comparison.What to watchComparison methods
- HealthCouplingDrug discovery claims need experimental confirmation.What to watchValidated outcomes
Industry analyses are designed for the Exponential Technology series. The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) assesses no vendor and gives no investment view; it reports evidence and its gaps.
- Benchmarks published with methods.
- Independent replications.
What is measured, and how well.
Each indicator carries its unit, its cadence, the kind of source behind it and the evidence label a value would carry. No values are shown: a programme supplies them under its own authority.
| Indicator | Unit | Cadence | Source type | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public funding announced for quantum | currency units | annual | Government announcements | DECLARED |
| Private investment in quantum firms | currency units | annual | Investment databases | REPORTED |
| Quantum firms by segment | count | annual | Industry surveys | REPORTED |
| Quantum patents filed | count | annual | Patent databases | OBSERVED |
| Quantum hardware accessible via cloud | count of systems | annual | Provider documentation | DECLARED |
| Revenue of quantum firms | currency units | annual | Company reports | REPORTED |
Where the evidence comes from.
Named public datasets and institutional records, each with its licence class. Sources by agreement are used only under their terms and never republished.
| Source | What it gives | Licence class |
|---|---|---|
| OECD quantum technologies policy primer and related work | Policy, investment and industry overview | Public, OECD terms |
| Patent data from WIPO PATENTSCOPE and EPO Espacenet | Patent filings by technology and applicant | Free access, terms per office |
| Company filings of listed quantum firms | Revenue and risk disclosures | Public records |
| Government quantum strategy documents | Announced public funding | Public records, licence per government |
| Industry market reports | Firm counts and investment | Commercial; public summaries (to check) |
Who decides, and what the evidence serves.
Quantum Technologies prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.
| Who decides | The question | Evidence this page serves |
|---|---|---|
| Governments and economic agencies | Which parts of the quantum industry to support | Industry maps; supply chain analyses |
| Investors | How to read industry claims and progress | Revenue and technical evidence |
| Buyers of quantum services | Which services are mature enough to use | Cloud access and benchmark evidence |
Outputs this topic produces
- Industry maps by segment and component
- Investment and revenue tracking with sources stated
- Supply chain dependency analyses
- Evidence notes separating announced from spent funding
What experts ask.
Industry questions separate near-term reality from long-term potential.
- Which applications are commercially real today, and which depend on future fault-tolerant machines?
- Where are critical components made, and how concentrated is supply?
- How dependent is the industry on public funding and on a few large technology firms?
- What happens to firms, investors and regions if expectations are not met on schedule?
- How do export controls and research security rules shape markets?
Mechanisms and drivers.
Quantum sensing and timing already have markets. Quantum computing is mainly sold as cloud access for research and exploration, and quantum key distribution serves niche uses. Many larger applications depend on capabilities that do not yet exist, so valuations rest heavily on expectation, which makes the industry sensitive to shifts in sentiment.
Supply chains rely on specialised inputs: dilution refrigerators, lasers, photonic chips, isotopically enriched materials and control electronics, often from few suppliers. Governments treat quantum as strategic, investing heavily and restricting exports of some equipment, which shapes where firms locate and who can access technology.
How it is studied, and where the methods stop.
| Method or data | What it shows | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Supply-chain mapping | Concentration and single points of failure | Firm-level data is often confidential |
| Investment and funding data | Scale and direction of capital | Announcements may not reflect committed funds |
| Technology readiness assessment | How mature an application is | Readiness scales are subjective |
| Case studies of adoption | How organisations actually use quantum services | Few cases, often reported by vendors |
How it is studied, and what the methods cannot say.
- 01Probability and statisticsFidelity estimation · Testing advantage claims · Analysing patent and investment dataApplied here
- 02Quantum computing, sensing and communicationComparable benchmarking · Technology readiness assessment · Security implications trackingApplied here
- 03Materials science and chemistryMaterials for longer coherence · Fabrication variability · Quantum chemistry use casesApplied here
Where this page’s references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Questions and answers.
How big is the quantum industry?
What are quantum enabling technologies?
Can organisations use quantum computers today?
Is the quantum industry a bubble?
Which quantum products are on the market today?
Does the platform give investment advice?
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