Op-Ed: Janus-Faced Adobe Provokes Apple Response


Is Adobe feeling the pinch of software competition? Two recent stories suggest the answer is 'yes'.

As MacCentral reports, Cupertino has been moved to respond to Adobe's claim on its website that a PC could run rings around a Mac in video post-production. Apple's response, published at MacCentral, reads:

"Apple stands by our claims that our latest Power Mac systems perform equal to or better than competing PC systems," Apple said in a statement given to MacCentral. "The reported tests on Adobe's Web site showing slower performance of After Effects on a Mac than a PC is more an application test than a platform test and is not indicative of all Pro application performance on the Mac."

Now a story at The Inquirer argues that Adobe's nose has been put seriously out of joint by Apple's erosion of some of Adobe's core markets. The article argues that Apple's inclusion of the free iMovie on every Mac was merely irritating. iPhoto 1.0 was seen as laughable. But iPhoto 2.0 and Final Cut Pro - and now Final Cut Express - are different stories altogether.

Adobe competes directly with Final Cut and iPhoto with their Premiere and After Effects applications. And, of course, iPhoto is free. Final Cut is more costly than Premier, but at $299, Final Cut Express is a steal, significantly undercutting Premiere. Moreover, the full-blown version of Final Cut already rules the Mac DV universe, and has resulted in quite a few switching to Mac - or at least buying one because they have to. I've already seen a number of DV pros do this.

Not to mention Apple's recent acquisitions, including Shake, RAYZ and Chalice. And don't forget that Apple has all that Astarte software lying around. Some has made it into iDVD and DVD Studio Pro. Some may be awaiting a rebirth under the Apple logo.

Just when you thought Adobe and Apple were at peace with other, sharing the fruits of InDesign for OS X, the competition between Apple and the world's second-largest software company hots up again.

And this relationship isn't all one way, like Apple-Microsoft. While Apple needs apps like Photoshop for OS X for its pro market, Adobe knows full well that a large proportion of its revenues are driven by the Mac platform. They aren't about to abandon ship anytime soon.