Toshiba targets $3 billion revenue in quantum cryptography by 2030

By Makiko Yamazaki

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp said on Monday it aims to generate $3 billion (2.3 billion pounds) in revenue from its advanced cryptographic technology for data protection by 2030, as the Japanese sprawling conglomerate scrambles to find future growth drivers.

The cyber security 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 $12 billion in 10 years with the advance of quantum computers, whose massive computational power could easily decipher conventional math-based cryptographic keys commonly used in finance, defence and health care.

The company is hoping to tap global demand for advanced cryptographic technologies as cyber security 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 U.S. nuclear power business in 2017, Toshiba has conducted a series of restructuring steps, including the sale of its laptop and television set businesses.

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

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)