Edge AI revenue will reach USD157bn by 2030 globally, STL Partners predicts in brand new forecast
4 min read- Global addressable edge AI market is set to grow by a CAGR of 19% in the next six years, reaching USD157bn in revenue by 2030
- Manufacturing stands out as the vertical that will most strongly adopt edge AI use cases, followed by the retail and the transport sectors
- Computer vision will dominate, capturing more than half of the revenue by the decade-end
- On-premises edge is expected to be the preferred deployment location for any type of use cases, winning enterprises with assurances around security and low latency
LONDON – 29 January 2025 – The addressable edge AI market is set for significant growth by the end of the decade, rising from USD54bn in revenue in 2024 to USD157bn by 2030 globally, STL Partners prognoses in its latest research.
In its first-ever Edge AI market forecast, the analyst powerhouse suggests that the market will be rising by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% during the period, demonstrating the huge demand for solutions that support future developments of AI applications.
Edge AI refers to the deployment of AI models at the edge of the network. STL Partners forecasts the value of edge AI across the entire value chain which it splits into six main components: device, connectivity, platform, application, integration and support, and edge infrastructure. The forecast does not include on-device edge AI and focuses on AI workloads processed on edge infrastructure that is off the device.
The research and consulting firm believes that the proportion of revenue directly attributable to AI will grow from 69% in 2024 to 72% in 2030. This is because applications are set to become increasingly infused with AI, making the technology integral to the delivery of use cases. The remaining 28% of revenue in 2030 is set to come from components of the value chain that indirectly enable AI applications.
“The substantial value generated directly by AI or as a direct enabling force indicates that players which are specialising in accommodating AI applications at the edge stand to gain significant value. Indicative of this influence is the growing investment across enterprises into AI accelerators to facilitate the deployment of edge AI applications”, comments George Glanville, research analyst at STL Partners and author of the forecast. According to him, convincing enterprises to make this investment into specialised on-premises hardware has required greater collaboration between independent software vendors (ISVs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to demonstrate the ROI of edge AI solutions.
Total edge AI addressable revenue (2023–2030)
Manufacturing, retail and transport are expected to show the biggest demand for edge AI use cases, representing a combined revenue share of 77% by 2030. In fact, manufacturing alone is forecast to encompass more than 35% of the market during the period. This is driven by the sector’s strong – and early – adoption of computer vision use cases, such as asset monitoring and security.
According to the research firm, the application of these use cases by the manufacturing sector provides a more immediate return on investment than in other verticals, and environments are comparatively easier to deploy in. Furthermore, these are the driving factors behind the company’s expectations for computer vision use cases to dominate the market, representing more than half of the edge AI addressable market by the decade-end.
“The overwhelming majority of computer vision use cases will be deployed at the on-premises edge as it provides a secure, low-latency environment for enterprises to perform AI inference on video data, which often contains sensitive information that cannot leave an enterprise’s premises for regulatory reasons”, the analyst explains.
In addition, he argues, deploying on-premises avoids “the significant cost” of data backhaul that enterprises would otherwise contend with when deploying in more centralised environments.
Another finding highlights East Asia & Pacific, Europe & Central Asia and North America as the regions with the largest opportunities for edge AI throughout the forecast period. Their collective share of the edge AI addressable market stood at 92% in 2024. This substantial figure is set to reduce by 2030, reaching 86%, as regions including South Asia, Latin America and the Middle East mature in their adoption of edge AI.
The forecast also provides insights into the segment types of the value chain that are prognosed to capture the lion’s pie in revenue by 2030 and a break down a breakdown of top-performing value chain segments, among other valuable takeaways.
You can discover more findings from the forecast by downloading an extract here.
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