Toshiba targets US$3bn revenue in quantum cryptography by 2030, as it searches for new growth drivers

Toshiba Corp said on Monday it aims to generate US$3 billion in revenue from its advanced cryptographic technology for data protection by 2030, as the sprawling Japanese conglomerate scrambles to find future growth drivers.

The cybersecurity technology, called quantum key distribution (QKD), leverages the nature of quantum physics to provide two remote parties with cryptographic keys that are immune to cyberattacks driven by quantum computers.

Toshiba expects the global QKD market to grow to US$12 billion in 10 years with the advance of quantum computers, whose massive computational power could easily decipher conventional maths-based cryptographic keys commonly used in finance, defence and health care.

The company is hoping to tap global demand for advanced cryptographic technologies as cybersecurity has come to the forefront of national defence. China is aggressively expanding network infrastructure for QKD, including quantum satellites that relay quantum signals.

The company said it has teamed up with Verizon Communications Inc in the United States and BT Group in Britain in pilot QKD projects, and is in talks with another telecommunications carrier in South Korea.

Since a crisis stemming from the bankruptcy of the US nuclear power business in 2017, Toshiba has conducted a series of restructuring steps, including the sale of its laptop and television businesses.

It is now focusing on public infrastructure businesses that are resilient to a global economic slump driven by the coronavirus outbreak.