Adobe results up, but could've been better


Adobe has announced record revenues. The two tidbits of interest are the company pulled down $423.3 million in Q1 '04, against $296.9 million last year and that 57 percent of its revenues from sources outside the US.

A related report by Dow Jones quotes Bruce Chizen, Adobe's CEO, as saying "We don't believe we are at the peak."

The import of this statement is that Adobe feels many Mac users are still hanging on to Classic and this is preventing them from buying the company's Creative Suite -- Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, GoLive -- which requires OS X.

This statement echos similar complaints made erstwhile Microsoft Mac BU general mananger Kevin Browne back in July, 2002. At the time Browne complained that Office X wasn't selling well because the adoption rate of OS X was too low.

Macworld UK is also carrying a write up of Adobe's earnings and Chizen's comments.

Editor's note: One of the problems understandably not highlighted by Adobe is the still bitter pill of OS X/Quark compatibility. There are dozens of helpers, plugins, etc that are still Classic-only and, thus, upgrades to OS X, Creative Studio, etc for many users aren't even a consideration.

One expects that Chizen's remarks will receive a warmer welcome than Browne's similar statements. This is part hatred of Microsoft and part the realization that the specter of Quark continues to cast a pall across the creative market.

What's your take?