Supercomputer Market

Supercomputer Market Outlook (2023-2033)

The global supercomputer market is projected to increase at an impressive CAGR of 10.5% and hit a valuation of US$ 19 billion by the end of 2033, up from US$ 7 billion in 2023.

In comparison to a general-purpose computer, a supercomputer is a high-performance computer. Supercomputer performance is measured in FLOPS (Floating-Point Operations Per Second) rather than MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second). Supercomputers are employed in computation-intensive and data-intensive technological and scientific applications such as biomechanics, quantum theory, fossil fuel extraction, weather prediction, molecular dynamics, cryptanalysis, nuclear fusion research, and physical simulations.

• The number of supercomputers in the world is growing. China currently possesses 167 of the world's 500 supercomputers, while the United States has 122.

The growing use of supercomputers in the research and development of drugs and increased biotechnology adoption is likely to fuel the market growth during the forecast period. Supercomputers were extensively used to create drugs to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Supercomputers were employed to scan a massive data volume in a few milliseconds to evaluate the coronavirus's nature and check if any components in existing medications could tackle the virus.

• For example, as part of the European Union-funded EXSCALATE4CoV project in 2020, Sanzio and his Cineca team cooperated with 15 other partners and 24 associated members across Europe. To research the safest coronavirus treatments, the effort brought together four supercomputer platforms in Spain, Germany, and Italy, as well as Europe's leading pharmaceutical corporations and academic institutions. Due to the high-performance computing capacity of supercomputers and the combined capabilities of the project members, the research was completed in a matter of months. The consortium's supercomputers had already examined the interaction of the coronavirus with 400,000 medicinal compounds by the middle of 2020 to see which one could kill the virus and prevent it from growing.
• In November 2020, the two Italian supercomputers, ENI's HPC5 and Cineca's Marconi-100, performed their most challenging work. In approximately 60 hours, they examined over 70 billion medicinal chemicals.

Moreover, major companies' increased efforts in the research and development of supercomputers are bolstering market growth.

• For example, Aurora, a supercomputer created in suburban Chicago by Intel in collaboration with the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory for AI research, will be two times faster than projected. As per Intel, the computer will be capable of doing two quintillion computations per second.

Furthermore, increased government efforts in emerging economies are boosting market expansion.

• For instance, under the Government's National Supercomputing Mission, the supercomputer 'Param Pravega' was deployed at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru on February 24, 2022. It boasts 3.3 petaflops of supercomputing power.

Report Attributes	Details
Market Size (2023)	US$ 7 Billion
Projected Market Value (2033)	US$ 19 Billion
Global Market Growth Rate (2023-2033)	10.5% CAGR
Asia Pacific Market Share (2023-2033)	46%
Government Entities Segment Growth Rate (2023-2033)	9% CAGR
Key Companies Profiled	Atos SE Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP Dell Inc Inspur Group Fujitsu Limited IBM Corporation Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd NEC Corporation

Why are Supercomputers Attracting So Much Attention?

“Rising Demand for High-Processing Power”

Rising demand for high processing power is increasing the sales of supercomputers. High processing power refers to the processing needed to manage and process data to evaluate it and make decisions.

Governments throughout the world are investing in high-end projects that necessitate high-performance computing systems, leading to a rise in supercomputer demand.

• For example, the National Center for Atmospheric Research-USA revealed a $35 million plan in January 2021 to start a powerful new supercomputer to study phenomena such as climate change, solar storms, and extreme weather events.
• The UK government announced in February 2020 a £1.2 billion ($1.26 billion) investment in the world's most advanced and powerful weather and climate supercomputer to enhance extreme weather and climate prediction.

As a result, the rising demand for high processing power is boosting the sales of supercomputers.

“Increasing Usage of Cloud Technology”

Supercomputers significantly contribute to a country's scientific growth and national security. Supercomputing centers are widely using cloud services to manage workloads and security. The cloud service runs parallel programs that do not need a highly specialized infrastructure. Nevertheless, more advanced applications are projected to run on the cloud in the future years.

• For example, Cray, a supercomputer manufacturer based in the United States, collaborated with Microsoft to install its devices and storage systems on the Azure Cloud platform. Customers can operate their most strategic workloads in Microsoft Azure's cloud service by using Microsoft Azure.

Which Factor Can Slow Down the Sales Growth of Supercomputers?

“High Cost of Ownership and Enormous Power Consumption”

The high cost of ownership and enormous power consumption are major factors that can impede the sales growth of supercomputers. A supercomputer's ownership and upkeep are both expensive. The cost comprises installation, power usage (in megawatts), and maintenance.

The cost of designing, building, and deploying a supercomputer can range from US$ 100 million to US$ 300 million. On average, these systems consume 6-7 megawatts of power, with peak consumption nearing 9.5 megawatts. The yearly energy cost for such usage is approximately US$ 6-US$ 7 million. Over the life of a supercomputer, the energy expenses nearly equal the overall investment expenditures. The energy needs of a supercomputer grow as its processing capability increases. Furthermore, multiple technicians are required to maintain the supercomputer. Such factors can negatively impact market growth.

Country-wise Insights

What Makes Asia Pacific the Global Market Leader?

Asia Pacific held 46% share of the worldwide market for supercomputers in 2022. In terms of technology, Asia Pacific has been quickly expanding. Countries such as South Korea and Japan have played a significant role in the region's rapid rise of supercomputing systems.

Japan, which has roughly 33 of the world's 500 most powerful supercomputers, including the K computer, is the key contributor to the Asia Pacific market. Japan's flagship 2020 initiative led to the investment of more than US$ 1 billion in developing more effective systems than the country's K computer. Japan's Fugaku supercomputer was unveiled in August 2022 to research new medications and predict catastrophic weather conditions.

• As per a French-Korean Conference report, South Korea intends to develop one of the five quickest exascale supercomputers by 2030, possibly using local processors.

Such advancements in Japan and South Korea are boosting the Asia Pacific market.

Why is the United States the Dominant Market in North America?

The North American market is predicted to experience considerable growth during the forecast period. The United States is second in the world in terms of supercomputers, with 122 of the total 500 supercomputers currently in operation. Moreover, American companies are making significant expenditures in research and development, which is likely to support market growth.

• For example, NVIDIA and IBM constructed Summit, a new supercomputer faster than Titan, the fastest supercomputer in North America.

What is Germany's Stance in the European Market?

The European market is expected to increase at a steady pace during the forecast period. Germany is leading the European market.

Germany is home to 9 of the world's 500 supercomputers, including the previous national standard setters, the SuperMUC-NG in Munich (number 15), and the Hawk in Stuttgart (number 16).

Category-wise Insights

Why are Government Entities the Primary Users of Supercomputers?

Demand for supercomputers from government entities is estimated to swell at a CAGR of 9% over the forecast period. Governments around the world recognize the value of supercomputers in guaranteeing economic competitiveness and security, which are critical considerations for governments. These systems are also being used to construct new defense systems and electronic warfare capabilities.

Moreover, demand for supercomputers will increase during the projection period as government organizations look to upgrade or construct new systems to support more complicated functionalities.

Competitive Landscape

The global market for supercomputers is highly competitive, with a few prominent players competing at the global and regional levels. Key players in the supercomputer market are engaged in product development to extend their respective product offerings and achieve a strong foothold in the global market.

Furthermore, many startups are entering the market with advanced solutions, intensifying the competition.

• Cerebras Systems, a Silicon Valley startup renowned in the industry for its dinner plate-sized chip designed for artificial intelligence work, introduced its AI supercomputer named Andromeda in October 2022, which is currently available for commercial and academic research.
• In January 2022, Meta, previously called Facebook, constructed the world's largest new supercomputer to develop a new generation of AI, referred to as the AI Research SuperCluster (RSC), to boost real-time interactions.
• Atos SE and NVIDIA collaborated in November 2021 to promote climate and healthcare research computing with Exascale Super Computing under the Excellence AI Lab (EXAIL). The project's objective is to gather researchers and scientists to promote education, research, and computing technologies in Europe. Researchers are also testing new deep learning models and AI on Europe's fastest supercomputer, the Jülich Supercomputing Center.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise stated in November 2021 that it is creating one of Europe's most powerful supercomputers, which will be deployed and run at CINES (National Computing Center for Higher Education), one of France's three high-performance computing (HPC) centers. GENCI, a French national organization that invests in and delivers HPC resources to France's industrial and academic research communities, purchased the new supercomputer.
• Rescale, a software technology firm based in the United States, partnered with Riken, a scientific research center based in Japan, to utilize the supercomputer Fugaku in the cloud in November 2021. Rescale and Riken collaborated on a new research project called "Rescale ScaleX on Supercomputer Fugaku," which seeks to boost the use and enhance the accessibility and usability of Fugaku's cloud computing platform.

Key Segments of Supercomputer Industry Research

• By Operating System :

  • Unix
  • Linux

• By Type :

  • Vector Processing Machines
  • Tightly Connected Cluster Computers
  • Commodity Cluster

• By End User :

  • Commercial Industries
  • Government Entities
  • Research Institutions

• By Region :

  • North America
  • Latin America
  • Europe
  • APAC
  • MEA