NEC in Japan has discontinued research and development on quantum computer hardware, turning instead to classical computer simulations and software services.
2026-09-07 14:27Chips & Hardware🔥 45.3 heat score
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NEC announced on September 7, 2026, that it would abandon the development of quantum computer hardware. The company had stopped actual research and development on this topic since March of this year, mainly due to the long investment payback period associated with related technologies. Despite terminating the hardware project, NEC will continue to explore quantum computing technologies and services, and strive to run computational tasks related to quantum annealing on classical computers. As a pioneer in quantum computing research, NEC was the first company in the world to successfully demonstrate the operation of quantum bits using superconducting solid-state components in 1999, and in 2014, it became the first to achieve high-sensitivity readout of quantum bits using superconducting parametric circuits.
NEC announced the termination of development of quantum computer hardware devices. The company ceased actual device research and development in March 2026, mainly due to the long investment payback period. NEC will shift its focus to software and services related to quantum annealing technology and strive to simulate relevant computational tasks on classical computers. As a pioneer in quantum computing, NEC first demonstrated the operation of quantum bits using superconducting solid-state components in 1999 and achieved high-sensitivity quantum bit readout in 2014.
NEC has abandoned the development of quantum computer hardware due to the long investment payback period associated with related technologies. NEC ceased actual device research and development as early as March this year, but it will continue to explore quantum computing technologies and services, and develop and apply quantum annealing technology to run such computational tasks on classical computers. As a pioneer in quantum computing research, NEC was the first company in the world to successfully demonstrate the operation of quantum bits using superconducting solid-state components in 1999, and in 2014 it became the first to achieve high-sensitivity readout of quantum bits using superconducting parametric circuits.