Part 10/12:
“Why pay $20 a month when you can get similar AI for free?” became a central question, underscoring the challenge AI companies face in maintaining revenue streams amid democratization.
Market Dynamics: Hardware First, Software Next, Recurring Revenue
A recurring theme was the classic lifecycle of revolutions: hardware leads, followed by software, then recurring revenue streams. Historically, the initial phase involves hardware companies capturing market share and profit, as seen with NVIDIA’s GPU dominance. Next comes software innovation—models, applications, and ecosystems—that convert hardware investment into sustainable business models.