Lightdep will be confined to high end flower production of elite and clone only photoperiod genetics. There is just too much infrastructure and labor involved. Autoflowers will take over the current light dep niche supplying sub-elite flower and oil material very soon, imo.
Autos have already reached a state that farms could mass grow, harvest, extract for concentrates/distillates/edibles more economically than large photoperiod plants grown from clones. There still needs to be work done to develop lines consistent enough to be grown solely for flower production, though many plants certainly meet that quality and can be highgraded out of a field.
Other benefits of autos include:
Intercropping, which is an issue in areas, like Oregon, where grow limits are measured by canopy size, not plant count. You can squeeze in an early Auto crop between full season plants that are harvested as the full season fill the canopy: http://www.newbreedseed.com/nbs-blog/intercropping-results-at-oregon-blissful-botanicals/2017/7/19
Staggered harvests: You can do this through the fall already with early and later maturing photoperiod strains, but with autoflowers you can now be harvesting as early as climate allows, potentially year round. You can precisely stagger sections of crop based on your maximum harvest and processing ability so that you donāt have a pinch point of staggering work at the end of the season.
Even if you donāt stagger, you can fit in two back to back plantings in one season in many areas. There are many reasons you may do this (avoid fall rains and get to market earlier than the fall glut for the first run, work with smaller more easily managed plants, limit potential losses by splitting the crop into two cycles).
As far as potency, individual plants can test >20%. Combined average for most of New Breeds current seed lots are 15-18% THC for big-leafed flower. This will certainly be increased with further breeding.
These are all primarily benefits for sun-growers (which we should all asprie to be, imo). Filling in gaps in veg (as stated earlier), staggering a personal crop outdoors (or indoors without a separate veg area), and climactic reasons also can benefit small scale cultivators. Thatās why Autos are already relatively popular in Europe.