Company Introduction
Introduction
IonQ (ticker: IonQ) is a quantum computing hardware and software company.
Company establishment
IonQ was developed by Christopher at the University of Maryland. It was founded in 2015 by Chris Monroe of Duke University and Jungsang Kim of Duke University.
America’s first quantum computing factory
The company opened a dedicated research and development facility in Bothell, Washington in February 2024, which the company claims is the first quantum computing factory “in the United States.”
Initial Public Offering
In October 2021, IonQ went public on the New York Stock Exchange through a special purpose acquisition company.
Notable Shareholders
According to a recent SEC filing, Amazon has invested $36.7 million in IonQ. IonQ’s trapped ion quantum computer already provides computing power for AWS’s Braket service, making this transaction more than just a passive investment.
Technology
Core Technology
IonQ’s core technology is trapped-ion, which is considered one of the leaders in the field of quantum computing. This technology was developed by the two founders of the company, Christopher. Co-invented by Monroe and Kim Jong-sang.
Origin of technology
Christopher. Monroe’s research in quantum computing began while he was a researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), working with Nobel Prize-winning physicist David Wineland. At that time, he led his team to use trapped-ions to create the first controllable quantum bit and the first controllable quantum logic gate. Based on this research, the architecture of a large-scale trapped-ion computer was finally proposed.
Origin of the company
Thanks to a large research project funded by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA), Kim Jong-sang and Christopher. Monroe began formal cooperation. They wrote a review paper for the journal Science titled “Scaling the Ion Trap Quantum Processor,” which cited Christopher. Monroe’s research in trapped-ions combines with Kim’s work in scalable quantum information processing and quantum communication hardware.
This research collaboration became the seed for the creation of IonQ. In 2015, New Enterprise Associates invested $2 million to acquire Kim Jong-sang and Christopher. Commercialization of the technology proposed by Monroe in his Science paper.
IonQ’s Technical Approach
While many quantum hardware developers use “synthetic” quantum systems for their quantum bits (qubits), IonQ uses naturally occurring quantum systems: individual atoms as the quantum cores in its hardware. The technology is based on that of Kim Jong-sang and Christopher. Monroe co-developed trapped-ion architecture.
IonQ converts atoms into ions and holds them in 3D space using a specialized linear ion trapping (trapped-ion) wafer. About 100 tiny electrodes are used in this tiny trap. The electrodes are created using photolithography to control the electromagnetic force that holds the ions in place and isolates them from the surrounding environment to reduce environmental noise and decoherence.
They mounted several ions onto a linear chain, allowing them to create a system with more than 100 qubits without having to make new wafers or modify the underlying technology. So far, they have performed single-qubit gates on chains of up to 79 ions and complex algorithms on chains of up to 11 ions.
Prior to calculations, the ions are cooled to reduce computational noise, and then state preparation is performed to initialize each ion to a well-defined “zero” state, ready for algorithm execution. They perform calculations using a series of operations called gates to manipulate the state of the qubits, first encoding the information to be calculated and then performing the operation.
IonQ’s “trapped ion” technology that could potentially shrink the width of a quantum processing unit (QPU) from a few feet to a few inches. That miniaturization process could pave the way toward the development of cheaper and more powerful quantum computing systems in the future.
Ionq’s Biggest Advantage
Recent research published in the journal APS Physical Review Letters reveals that a research team consisting of scientists from the University of Oxford and Osaka University has achieved the lowest quantum computing error rate ever achieved, at 0.000015%. This equates to an error rate of only one in every 6.7 million operations.
Typically, quantum systems often employ superconducting circuits based on quantum dots or use lasers, commonly known as optical tweezers, to hold single photons in place for operation as qubits. However, this breakthrough primarily utilizes trapped ions as qubits, creating more quantum logic gates. By reducing the error rate, this new approach reduces the number of qubits required and reduces the cost and size of the quantum computer itself.
This is a testament to Ionq’s unique technology, demonstrating that its trapped ion technology leads the industry in feasibility and noise error rate (i.e., fidelity).
Products and Business
Three-tiers offerings
IonQ sells three types of quantum computing systems: Its top-tier Aria quantum system, its commercial-oriented Forte system, and its on-premise Forte Enterprise system. It also provides its quantum computing power as a cloud-based service.
It mainly sells its products and services to big government customers and universities.
Products
Currently, IonQ has launched two quantum computers, Harmony and Aria, which use 11 and 32 qubits respectively. Harmony was launched in 2019; the 11 qubits are fully connected, meaning you can run a two-qubit gate between any pair of qubits.
Launched in August 2022, Aria is IonQ’s most powerful device yet, with 23 qubits. Aria successfully executed a quantum circuit with more than 550 gates, enabling the testing of increasingly complex quantum algorithms.
IonQ will launch Forte in 2023. The device offers significant improvements in performance, adaptability and accuracy. IonQ Forte uses ytterbium ions and integrates a highly sophisticated acousto-optic deflector (AOD) to apply logic gates between 32 qubits in the ion chain. By reducing noise and residual light on nearby qubits, the approach enables extraordinary precision and stability in the laser beam, thereby improving fidelity and reliability.
Services provided
IonQ’s main service is to provide customers or partners with quantum computing hardware infrastructure as the basis for quantum computing applications.
Serious losses
2024 Financial Report
- Revenue of US$430.73 million, up 95.41% year-on-year
- Operating cash flow loss of $1,056.83 million increased by 34.1% from the loss of $788.11 million in 2023
- Net loss of $331.647 million, an increase of 110.2% from $157.71 million in 2023
2025 Q1 Financial Report
- Revenue: $760 million
- Operating loss of $75.7 million, up 43% year-over-year
- Total assets: US$850.1 million
- Cash: $588.3 million
- Total liabilities: $85 million
Customers and Partners
Three major cloud provider partners
In November 2021, IonQ partnered with Microsoft to commercialize IonQ’s quantum computer through the cloud, allowing users to take advantage of IonQ’s unique quantum computing approach.
IonQ has similar partnerships with Google and Amazon’s AWS.
IonQ Corporate Partners
That same month (November 2021), they announced a partnership with Multiverse Computing to enable financial services institutions to model risk more accurately and faster using Multiverse’s IonQ Quantum Cloud platform within Singularity, Multiverse’s financial solution.
In April 2022, IonQ announced a collaboration with automaker Hyundai to apply quantum machine learning to image classification and 3D object detection for future mobility. Prior to this, the two companies were working on developing new variational quantum feature solving algorithms to study lithium compounds and their chemical reactions involved in battery chemistry. The project is a key component of Hyundai’s 2025 strategy, which includes selling 560,000 EVs annually and launching more than a dozen battery-electric vehicles to consumers.
Toyota Tsusho Corporation announced a partnership with Toyota Tsusho Corporation in 2025 and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Global Business R&D Center for Quantum Artificial Intelligence Technology (G-QuAT) to promote the development of quantum computing in Japan.
IonQ Customers
IonQ proactively disclosed the following three clients:
- Applied Research Laboratory: Two parties have signed the Agreement on Intelligence and Security (ARLIS).
- U.S. Air Force: IonQ has been awarded two contracts by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to commission quantum networking systems at the AFRL site in Rome, New York.
- EPB: IonQ has reached a $22 million agreement with EPB, a leading energy and communications company in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to build the first quantum computing and networking center in the United States.
In July 2025, Ionq declared another 3 bug customers including Ansys, AstraZeneca, and Toyota Tsusho.
IonQ’s competitors
Mega listed companies
Including super large listed companies such as IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.
Unlisted companies
There are many unlisted companies among IonQ’s competitors, but some of the more well-known and currently active ones include:
- Xanadu Quantum Technologies
- PsiQuantum
- Quantinuum Ltd
- Alpine Quantum Technologies
al market performance
| Company name | Ticker | Stock price | Market Cap (US$ billion) | Stock performance in past one year | Stock performance in past five year | 2024 revenue (US$ million) and growth rate | 2024 net income (US$ million) and growth rate |
| D-Wave | QBTS | 14.18 | 46.28 | 1013.53% | 36.37% | 8.8(+0%) | (142.9)(-65.02%) |
| Ionq | IONQ | 41.81 | 118.69 | 367.15% | 279.75% | 43.1(+95.9%) | (331.6)(-110.2%) |
| Rigetti | RGTI | 12.18 | 39.31 | 923.53% | 22.91% | 10.8(-10%) | (201)(-167.64%) |
| S&P 500 | 6259.75 | 52,703 | 11.16% | 94.12% | 17,310,000(+6.25%) | 1,962,000(+11.71%) |
Numbers are as of 7/11/2025
Company roadmap
Next system
IonQ aims to gradually scale up from 256 physical qubits in 2026 to 2 million physical qubits and 80,000 logical qubits by the end of the decade.
Dual approach
IonQ’s strategy is dual approach in computing and networking. IonQ views computing and networking as symbiotic and is aiming to provide end-to-end quantum solutions that address a wider range of customer needs. Its revenue is diversified across hardware sales, quantum computing as a service, and applications.
Networking is a more viable approach to building bigger quantum computers than simply adding qubits, which serve as basic units of information in a system. If you just picked a better path, it doesn’t take a lot of qubits to do useful work. We scale through quantum networking.
The company’s end goal is to build a so-called quantum internet, with its computers acting as the primary nodes. Industry believes IonQ has the most commercial business model and differentiated go-to-market strategy among peers, saying that will serve the company as the quantum-computing industry matures.
EcoSystem builing by development
While application development currently represents a smaller chunk of total revenue, it is considered the most important long-term value driver. The strategy focuses on landing customers with either computing or networking solutions and then expanding the relationship to build a sticky ecosystem.
Closing words
Compared with competitors, Ionq is well-positioned, might be so called “Nvidia of quantum computing” in terms of:
- Better business strategy and commercilization plan.
- Bigger revenue among quantum computing listed companies.
- The largest quantum computing listed companies by market value.
However, investors should take note this is current situation. Quantum computing investment still has huge risks because in the very early innings of technology, smaller market size, far away from real commercialization, big company loss, etc.
Keep in mind: Ionq’s trapped ion technique has advantages in accuracy and cost.
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