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  • 🔵 The Quantum Insider Weekly | Quantum Sales. Quantum Safe. And More News.

🔵 The Quantum Insider Weekly | Quantum Sales. Quantum Safe. And More News.

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FROM THE EDITOR.

We will kick this off with some congratulations. I like to extend this to teams who need a hoorah after funding rounds and merger-acquisition activity, mainly because it sounds like those things require a lot of paperwork and meetings that should be emails.

So, first, congrats to Nullspace that announced a $2.5 million raise. Qunova Computing — one of Korea’s quantum leaders — celebrated the completion of its Series A. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mentions Strangeworks, which acquired Quantagonia — this will be a combination to watch.

Judging from web states, as well as some of the comments and emails, our piece on the sales of quantum computers grabbed some interest of the community this week. Admittedly, the data doesn’t give us a perfect picture — and quantum cloud computing, which wasn’t a subject of this piece, certainly adds another dimension — but the main takeaway for me was that the quantum market is a real, commercial environment and the companies are approaching it in strategic ways.

That bodes well for the future of the companies today, which will, on might assume, be a highly competitive space in the future.

Below you’ll find a review of the study — and some analysis.

Have a great weekend!

— Matt, Chief Content Officer at The Quantum Insider

INSIDER BRIEF.

ANALYST NOTES.

The Noteworthy & Nuanced

Is your protein powder secretly a quantum computer? Probably not, but University of Chicago researchers have shown that enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) can act as a quantum bit. Demonstrating measurable spin coherence and optically detected magnetic resonance, the protein qubits retained quantum behavior in biological environments. Though less sensitive than diamond-based sensors, EYFP introduces a genetically encodable quantum platform, opening new possibilities in the emerging field of quantum biology.

IQM has been selected as the proud vendor to deliver the first on-premise quantum computer to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). IQM Radiance, a 20-qubit superconducting system, is scheduled for delivery in Q3 2025. The system, designed for hybrid quantum-classical application development, can be upgraded to larger qubit counts. This partnership is yet another step in ORNL’s journey of strengthening its leadership in integrating quantum computing with HPC systems.

A 2-qubit gate within a single trapped ion? A University of Sydney team, working with Q-TRL scientists, has demonstrated just that - the first universal quantum logic gate using Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) error-correcting codes encoded in a single qubit. By entangling two logical qubits stored in the vibrations of one ytterbium atom, the experiment significantly reduced the number of physical qubits needed for operations. — Alan Kanapin, Analyst at The Quantum Insider

The Research Rundown

Check out this week’s handpicked quantum research. These are studies headed for real-world impact: improving accuracy, reducing latency, using fewer resources, or solving problems that classical methods struggle with. These are early developments, but they hint at where quantum might earn its keep.

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➡️ IBM captured 47% of disclosed global quantum deal value since 2020, while Finland’s IQM led in system shipments at 15%, according to The Quantum Insider’s 2025 Quantum Market Sizing Report.
➡️ The divergence between deal value and unit sales shows that quantum hardware is not commoditized, with vendors pursuing different go-to-market strategies.
➡️ Beyond the leaders, the market remains fragmented, with Fujitsu, Rigetti, ORCA, Quantum Brilliance, and D-Wave competing for smaller slices of activity.
➡️ Opacity in pricing and selective disclosure mean apples-to-apples comparisons remain difficult, with about half of reported deals lacking full financial details.
➡️ The data is incomplete, but it provides a useful first map of an emerging industry that is proving itself to be real, competitive, and already generating sales.

Analyst Commentary

The quantum computing industry is often dismissed as “not real,” but this — admitedly early — round of sales data suggests otherwise. Systems are being sold, competition is intensifying, and strategic choices are already shaping the contours of this new market. Even in its early stage, quantum hardware is no longer hypothetical — it is a business, with serious players beginning to emerge.

It’s probably no surpise that IBM stands out in terms of deal value, capturing nearly half of disclosed contracts since 2020. Its strategy centers on a smaller number of very large, multi-million-dollar systems bundled with infrastructure and service layers, often tied to government or flagship initiatives. IQM, by contrast, has claimed the top spot in volume, shipping 15% of all systems in this period. Its focus on smaller, lower-cost machines for universities, startups, and labs has seeded international sales, even if total deal value trails far behind.

This divergence underscores a fundamental point: quantum computing hardware is not yet standardized or commoditized. Prices vary widely depending on the type of system, what is bundled with it, and the target customer. Some vendors sell fewer, higher-priced machines that serve as national statements of technological strength. Others move more units at lower cost, appealing to institutions building research capacity and training ecosystems.

Outside of IBM and IQM, the picture is fragmented. Companies like Fujitsu, Rigetti, ORCA Computing, Quantum Brilliance, and D-Wave each hold pieces of the market. Emerging partnerships also complicate the view — Atom Computing and Microsoft recently announced a $93 million deal in Denmark that is not yet reflected in rankings, showing how disclosure lags and selective reporting leave gaps in the data.

The central challenge is opacity. Only about half of deals disclose order values, leaving analysts to rely on estimates and inferred per-qubit pricing. Vendors also differ in what they count as sales, with some revenue tied to cloud access or research contracts rather than hardware. That makes clean benchmarking elusive. Still, the dataset provides a directional signal — real money is flowing, real machines are being bought, and market strategies are starting to matter.

Quantum was dismissed for another reason early on: Critics doubted that startups, for the most part, born and nurtured in an academic environment could become actual businesses. They also dismissed the quantum side of corporations, such as IBM and Fujitsu, as corporate pet projects. However, in these figures, we see definite, rigorous and thoughtful sales strategies and go-to-market plans. In many ways, that’s just a serious of a hurdle as the technical challenges, which, by the way, still remain.

For investors, the implications are significant. High deal-value leaders may dominate headlines today, but system volume could prove more important in building ecosystems and user bases for the future. Conversely, firms with broad adoption may struggle to convert that momentum into near-term revenue. Either way, the emerging quantum market is no longer theoretical. It is a competitive, evolving industry where go-to-market strategy could decide who survives the transition to maturity.

DATA SPOTLIGHT.

PacketLight Networks and NEC demonstrated quantum key distribution over a 400G dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) network using a dual-fiber setup. They integrated NEC’s QKD system with PacketLight’s PL-4000M 600G Muxponder, achieving 100% data throughput and low latency, verified via a 100GbE tester. The QKD ran over a dedicated parallel fiber, maintaining quantum signal integrity. The result: a cost-effective, scalable quantum-safe model with zero performance tradeoffs on existing high-capacity infrastructure.

INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS.

🧪 Qunova Computing has raised $10 million in Series A funding to accelerate its quantum software development, focusing on chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and industrial engineering.

🔑 Palo Alto Networks has announced new quantum-ready security solutions, including a Quantum Readiness Dashboard, industry-first cipher translation for legacy applications, and Quantum-Optimized Hardware across 14 upgraded firewall models.

📈 IBM leads global deal value for quantum computer sales since 2020 with 47%, while IQM tops unit shipments at 15%, reflecting divergent strategies in a fragmented and opaque market, according to The Quantum Insider’s 2025 Quantum Market Sizing Report.

🖥️ Oak Ridge National Laboratory has selected the IQM Radiance for its first-ever on-premises quantum system. Scheduled for delivery in Q3 2025, the system will support hybrid application development.

💊 Mitsui & Co., Quantinuum, and QSimulate have launched QIDO, a hybrid quantum-classical chemistry platform designed to accelerate material and pharmaceutical discovery by offloading the most computationally intensive tasks to quantum hardware.

🔓️ Microsoft has launched a comprehensive Quantum Safe Program to prepare its infrastructure, customers, and partners for the security risks posed by future large-scale quantum computers, aiming for full post-quantum cryptography adoption by 2033.

🧊 Entanglement, Inc. and Maybell Quantum have signed an MOU to form a strategic partnership, with Entanglement deploying Maybell’s dilution refrigerators and cryogenic I/O systems across its global quantum labs, including a new hub in Vienna.

🤝 Orientum and Deep In Sight have signed an MOU to co-develop a quantum AI platform that integrates quantum algorithms with AI-driven 3D spatial sensing, targeting advanced defense applications. .

🐈‍⬛ Strangeworks has acquired Quantagonia to form a global leader in applied AI, optimization, and quantum computing, combining Strangeworks’ HPC and quantum platform with Quantagonia’s solver orchestration and AI-powered decision-making tools.

👩‍🔬 IonQ has surpassed 1,000 total patents and applications in trapped-ion quantum computing and networking, with new U.S. patents covering secure long-distance quantum networking via portable quantum memory and a self-aligned fabrication method for photonic integration.

💰️ Quantinuum, the Honeywell-backed quantum computing company, is reportedly seeking a new funding round that could double its valuation to $10 billion, with NVIDIA approached as a potential investor and Quanta Computer already investing $50M for a 0.49% stake.

Join leaders from Fujitsu, Quantinuum, Oxford Instruments, and D-Wave on Sept. 3 for a live panel exploring real-world quantum use cases from supply chain optimization to quantum chemistry and enterprise deployments. As part of the International Year of Quantum, this 60-minute webinar will provide actionable insights into how quantum technologies are being applied today across industries. Register here to attend.

EVENTS.

Aug. 28 -- Quantum Curio: Back to School Edition. This in-person session at the University of Washington is for people exploring quantum for the first time or building in the next wave of frontier tech.

Aug. 31– Sept. 5 -- IEEE Quantum Week 2025 will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Sept. 16-18 -- Quantum World Congress 2025 will be held at Capital One Hall in Greater Washington. The event is a chance for the world’s quantum ecosystem to come together and bring a quantum-ready future into focus.

Sept. 24-25 -- Q2B25 Paris at Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Paris, France.

Sept. 29-Oct. 1 -- Quantum.Tech Europe is taking place in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The event will bring together the whole quantum supply chain to drive forward the commercial applications of Quantum Technologies.

Oct. 6-10 -- 8th International Conference for Young Quantum Information Scientists (YQIS25) will take place in Barcelona, Spain. YQIS is a conference series organized by and for PhD students and early-career researchers working across the broad field of quantum information.

Oct. 8 -- The Fifth Anniversary of The City Quantum & AI Summit will take place at the Mansion House in the City of London this year with the subtitle Race for Growth.

Oct. 8 -- The Quantum Insider, in partnership with the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County and Quantum Coast Capital, will host Quantum Beach 2025, an officially recognized event of the International Year of Quantum (IYQ2025). Register here.

Oct. 13-17 -- Quantum Reference Frames 2025 will bring together leading experts on quantum reference frames and the many related subjects in the first focused event in the new era of quantum frame covariance. QRF 2025 is co-funded by the Quantum Information Structure of Spacetime consortium.

Oct. 19-21 -- Q+AI will be held in New York City. This event will uncover the coming wave of Quantum + AI, include 50+ speakers, daily mentoring sessions and 16 sessions, one continuous track.

Nov. 10-12 -- European Quantum Technologies Conference 2025 will be held at Øksnehallen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Dec. 1-4 -- QUEST-IS 2025 Quantum Engineering Sciences and Technologies for Industry and Services From Quantum Engineering to Applications for Citizens. EDF Lab, Paris-Saclay, France.