Piper Sandler analysts see 2025 as a pivotal year for consumer-facing AI applications. Moving beyond an infrastructure-led boom, the next phase will involve widespread integration of AI directly into consumer applications—a shift expected to fuel rapid user adoption and drive down inference costs.
Market Expansion and Growth Prospects
According to Piper Sandler, the consumer AI market could soar from $15 billion in 2025 to over $100 billion by 2030. This dramatic growth will be powered by several key trends:

Lower Inference Costs: Advances in hardware and algorithm efficiency will make AI more affordable for everyday applications.

Rapid User Adoption: With consumer internet screen time already exceeding 4 hours per day, AI-integrated apps and services are well poised to capture a larger share of user attention.

Embedded AI Hardware: Increasingly, AI-specific hardware is being built directly into devices, enhancing user experiences and reducing overall delivery costs.

Key Players Poised to Benefit
Piper Sandler highlights seven stocks that stand to gain from this “next major AI wave.” These companies are benefiting from their scale, established user bases, and significant investments in AI:

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL)

Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Meta (NASDAQ:META)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Opera (NASDAQ:OPRA)

Reddit Inc (NYSE:RDDT)

The report emphasizes that entrenched tech giants like Google, Meta, and Microsoft have a formidable advantage. Their massive platforms allow them to roll out new AI models to billions of users, creating high barriers to entry for new competitors.
Investment Perspective
From an investment standpoint, the public company scale advantage is a critical driver in this space. These large-cap firms collectively generate annual revenues of around $1.5 trillion and invest over $100 billion annually in AI. Their extensive distribution networks and dominant market positions provide them with a head start that newer entrants will find hard to match.
For those seeking further insights into how these companies are positioned in the rapidly evolving consumer AI landscape, detailed performance metrics can be explored via the Company Rating endpoint.
Looking Forward
As AI becomes more embedded in everyday applications, the consumer market is set to experience transformative growth. With lower costs and increased functionality, AI is expected to enhance everything from mobile apps to smart home devices, ultimately reshaping how consumers interact with technology.
Piper Sandler’s outlook suggests that 2025 will not just be a turning point but a launchpad for the widespread adoption of AI, driving substantial market expansion and creating new investment opportunities in the tech sector.