NEC, the Japanese tech giant that built the world’s first superconducting qubit in 1999, officially stopped developing quantum computer hardware at the end of March 2026. The company concluded that the timeline to commercially viable quantum systems was too long and the return on investment too uncertain against US competitors IBM and Google. NEC will redirect its efforts toward quantum annealing and quantum-inspired computing on classical hardware, focusing on software and services. Many NEC quantum researchers have joined Fujitsu, which is partnering with Riken to develop competitive quantum systems. This departure consolidates Japan’s quantum hardware ambitions around a single main player.
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