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* Transcoding large video files, especially in real time.

* Various Hobbyist projects.

* Extreme multi-tasking (running a game, 100 firefox tabs, home server, encoding, etc)

* Seti@home/folding@home -> computational philanthropy.

There are definitely prosumer applications; I'd quite like faster builds at home but am not quite willing to pay for a Xeon, say. Bit of a niche market, though.

You're only saying that because most programs are incapable of taking advantage of multiple cores, but if 8 core CPUs were the norm, I guarantee programs (where performance matters) would change.

If 4 cores are the norm now, and most programs cannot take advantage of them, what it the rationale for which things would change in the case of 8 cores ?

4 cores aren't quite the norm. The computer I'm currently at is a Dell XPS 13, the CPU is an i7-4510U, which is dual core. Regardless, in most circumstances, 4 cores are only just above break even point for parallel code, so the pay off isn't big enough.