Quick Quantum Quips: Quantum systems become increasingly accessible

Welcome to TBR’s monthly newsletter on the quantum computing market: Quick Quantum Quips (Q³). This market changes rapidly, and the hype can often distract from the realities of the actual technological developments. This newsletter keeps the community up to date on recent announcements while stripping away the hype around developments.

November 2020 Developments

Access to quantum systems and vertical-specific use cases is beginning to emerge in more commercially available ways. While quantum computing has yet to achieve economic advantage, these developments are necessary next steps toward this goal.

1. IQM Quantum Computing (IQM),a quantum hardware startup based in Finland, was selected to produce Finland’s first quantum system. The company committed to delivering a 50-qubit system by 2024. IQM has a geographical advantage in the quantum computing market because it is located in Europe and there are few vendors on the continent investing in quantum hardware. IQM’s partnership with Atos on quantum provides IQM with increased visibility into the European Union.
2. Zapata Computing closed its latest round of funding, a series B round that raised $38 million. Comcast’s and Honeywell’s venture capital arms both invested in this round of funding, with Honeywell as an existing investor and Comcast as a new addition. The investments in quantum computing from vendors working in adjacent fields demonstrate the value quantum computing can provide. TBR believes Zapata’s software capabilities are some of the most mature in the industry, making it a valuable long-term partner to Honeywell in the quantum computing market.
3. Duke University has begun expanding its existing quantum computing facility at its Chesterfield location in Durham, N.C., adding 10,000 square feet. The expansion will be completed by March 2021, and the facility is one of five in the U.S. gaining support from a $115 million grant by the U.S. Department of Energy. Duke University’s quantum computing efforts focus on trapped-ion quantum systems. The systems in development at Duke will be purpose-built to solve specific problems.
4. AlgoDynamix unveiled a behavior-forecasting use case for financial services customers underpinned by D-Wave quantum annealing technology. This offering is consumed as a cloud service and is significant in the quantum computing market for two reasons, according to TBR. First, it is a very specific vertical use case that leverages quantum computing technology. Second, it demonstrates that a quantum-specific vendor partnering with a vertical-specific vendor can create very practical applications in the greater quantum ecosystem. The analytics of this use case are SaaS-based and do not require customer-specific data to be leveraged, making onboarding new customers to the offering relatively simple.
5. Honeywell unveiled a 10th-generation 10-qubit quantum system named System H1. The computer leverages Honeywell’s quantum charge-coupled device (QCCD) trapped-ion technology, which is a differentiator in that the QCCD makes it easier to upgrade the system throughout its lifetime. This enables existing customers to take advantage of system advancements as they are developed. System H1 can be accessed as a cloud service either directly through a cloud API or through partners including Microsoft Azure Quantum, Zapata or Cambridge Quantum Computing. All access to System H1 is billed as a subscription service.

If you would like more detailed information around the quantum computing market, please inquire about TBR’s Quantum Computing Market Landscape, a semiannual deep dive into the quantum computing market. Our upcoming version, publishing in December, will focus on the software layer of quantum systems. You can also sign up for our webinar on the topic, which will be held on Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. EST.