IBM's Widening Technological Challenge to Quantum Startups

What’s in This Article

Introduction
Chart 1. One-Year Stock Performance of Quantum Computing Companies
Chart 2. Quantum Computing Stocks: Declines From One-Year Highs
IBM’s Growing Technological Advantage
Table 1. IBM’s Quantum Computing Progress and Competitive Implications
Why Quantum Computing Is Becoming a Systems Competition
The Competitive Challenge for IonQ, Rigetti, D-Wave, and QUBT
IBM’s Commercial Ecosystem and Quantum-Classical Integration
Investor Takeaway

The quantum computing industry is entering a more demanding phase of technological competition, and IBM (IBM) is emerging as an increasingly formidable challenger to the specialized startups that have attracted much of the investment community’s attention. IonQ (IONQ), Rigetti Computing (RGTI), D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), and Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT) have benefited from expectations that quantum computing will eventually become a major new computing market. However, the technological requirements for commercialization are becoming increasingly complex, extending beyond individual quantum processors to error correction, computational throughput, manufacturing, software integration, and the ability to deliver reliable systems to commercial customers.