“Adobe Systems has reported Q3 earnings that blew past analyst expectations and the company’s own projections (revenue was $851.7 million, up 41 percent from a year ago) based on unexpectedly strong sales of its Creative Suite and Acrobat products. Because Adobe is the first major technology company to report earnings during this cycle, executives sometimes offer insights into the technology buying patterns that affect larger players such as Apple and Intel,” Jon Fortt blogs for Business 2.0.
Fortt reports notes from Adobe’s conference call:
• Bruce Chizen, CEO; and Shantanu Narayen, COO, are among those on the call.
• 36 percent increase in CS revenue. Adobe expects a long tail.
• Most popular versions: Design Premium , Design Standard, Master Collection, then others
• Strong demand for Mac versions
• 27 percent of revenue came from Photoshop Extended
• There was high demand for Mac video software — about 37 percent of the mix was Mac
• Shantanu says CS3 performance gains on the Mac are impressive, and the Mac is a vibrant platform. Adobe came back to the Mac with video products, and Adobe is off to a strong start with those.
• Bruce says the iPhone was a blessing for Adobe — a great device. The manufacturers who are looking to follow the iPhone are reading the reviews that say a deficiency of the iPhone is that it doesn’t have Flash — Chizen says that leads Adobe to believe that Flash will be on a lot of high-end handsets in the near future.
More in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Too Hot!” for the heads up.]
my shop is about to buy much c3 and macpro
You bet yer sweet ass it is.
“….The manufacturers who are looking to follow the iPhone are reading the reviews that say a deficiency of the iPhone is that it doesn’t have Flash — Chizen says that leads Adobe to believe that Flash will be on a lot of high-end handsets in the near future.
“
Does that include the iPhone?
@ChrissyOne
Why such a provocative choice in words?
Apple – where the hell is Flash support on my damn iPhone? What were you smokin’ when you left off flash? Only thing I can think of is that the CPU in the iPhone is too slow to handle flash.
“Strong demand” of CS3 for the Mac.
But then…
“There was high demand for Mac video software — about 37 percent of the mix was Mac”
So in essence CS3 on the Mac is less than 37%. This is of course typical as the graphics market doesn’t need powerful new processors and almost can make a Mac last 10 or more years, as long as it’s not hooked up to the internet.
Video sales is high on the Mac because Apple was selling en-massé the powerful G5 chip equipped, fast bus hardware at great prices a few years back.
Video demands powerful CPU’s with wide open bus to the drives which the PowerMac G5 was, unlike the new Intels with their hobbled bus.
Now that’s not the case because it’s all Intel on the Mac. So when the next upgrade comes for these video people, processors are the same, so they can choose from many hardware vendors, get better prices and unfortunatly have to ease their workers over to a Windows OS.
Of course Adobe will be there with software that works the same on Win as Mac OS X.
Darn Apple, why didn’t you go with the Cell option on the Pro desktops/servers?
You could have owned the video space, but now are going to lose it with these crappy Intel office processors.
So in essence CS3 on the Mac is less than 37%. This is of course typical as the graphics market doesn’t need powerful new processors and almost can make a Mac last 10 or more years, as long as it’s not hooked up to the internet. —Hmmm
I disagree with your assessment. Graphic designers are, in general, technically very conservative and uncomfortable with change. They don’t keep their computers for ten years because they don’t need more power (Photoshop users always need more power!). They keep their old machines because they’re so reluctant (dare I say “terrified”?) to make changes to a setup that works. If you want to see cutting-edge technology in action, the average graphic design studio is the last place you’d look.
Adobe making nice with Apple? Must see the writing on the wall. The time of Windows ascendency is over. Time to get back on the Mac Train.
WOOT! WOOT!
I believe that letting flash out of the iphone is a kind of strategy to move all the video content providers to move to quicktime, but since I read that Flash will support quicktime codec, they will wait until it happends. is it?
Gee, no WONDER they made a huge profit.
The upgrade fees for CS3 are insane!
I own separate licenses for Photoshop 7, Acrobat Pro 6 and Freehand MX (11). Was I given ANY sort of credit for owning THREE licenses when buying the CS3 upgrade?
NOOOOOOOOOO.
So, they only “gave” me credit for ONE.
Essentially? A ripoff.
I love being a captive… er, I mean, “customer”.
MDN Magic Word: MORE… yep, that’s exactly what Adobe wants.
Congratulations C1…good job
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@ Hmmm…
You speak of connecting a MAC to the internet. Can you actually connect a MAC to the internet? Do you have to buy a NIC for MAC? Do they make NICs for MACs?
Your potential. Our passion.™
no u cannot connect a MAC to the internet. itʻll find it itself.
Yep, it will sniff out the internet just like a good old southern bloodhound!
Woof woof, who let the dog out!
I design magazines on a lovely 24″ iMac, but my printers are terrified of new software, which often fucks up the whole system. One bad PDF file and the production-line is ferked.
I stupidly upgraded to Quark 7, but had to remove it again, because the printers told me it would mess everything up.
Trouble was, going back was a nightmare. Layouts refused to open in Quark 6.5, after being worked on in 7. Oh I had such fun, especially when I had to reinstall Quark on my iMac.. . Maybe Adobe In-Design won’t be quite so horrendous, when I switch?
I hate CS, yes that includes CS1, CS2 and C3.
Adobe is the new Microsoft. Like in Office Suite.
Having a line of products is apparently better then one product that does the job well. Where oh where is that promise some ten or fifteen years ago of this all-in-one application that is Photoshop and Illustrator as ONE. Marketing wins. AND wow… yeah WOW you get the Indesign included.
I don’t want a suite. I have been making Photoshop and Illustrator SINGINGLY smooth and work together longer then any idea of a suite.
Just add multiple pages to Illustrator and better type control.
Then there would be NO NEED for a layout program. Macromedia Freehand had it. Adobe owns it now. SO they are holding out!
Adobe was adding many raster abilities and functions to Illustrator, making it more the Photoshop direction. But while Macromedia still had Freehand… it’s direction was to add Flash compatibility. So, Adobe started with SVG and Flash instead of combining more Photoshop. We are getting screwed.
For those in design… think VERY clearly on the project at hand.
Much of the work can easily be done with just the two programs. Only if you are working on a multi-page book or manual is there NEED for Indesign or Quark. And I have found that Quark also works NICELY within Adobe’s Suite as it always did.
A suite doesn’t make things any better nor faster. This WAS a BRILLIANT marketing move on Adobe to get us using Indesign. Look at the price. Three apps for price of two. THEY wanted us to use Indesign… but there really isn’t any need – for the most part. Indesign doesn’t even FEEL like the other two applications.
Oh, and here – one last whine!
Adobe updates the application like ONCE a year – before it comes out with whole new SUITE. Oh joy!
Well, there are over 25 mathematical issues with Illustrator CS2.
And 12.0.1 update never fixed any of them. Then out comes CS3. So far, same issues. No fix. So one compensates for the errors that are in the application. SOUNDING LIKE Microsoft RIGHT. Hhhhhhaahahahahah because they are. Somewhere between 40 -70% Adobe staff were at one time with Microsoft.
Just look the next time you place type on a circle. It is never positioned perfectly centre. Illustrator 8 and 10 had the math right.
I DO NOT WANT TO USE A PILE OF CRAP.
NOR DO IT WISH TO THINK OF HOW TO LAYOUT CRAP IN A WHOLE NEW WAY USING A DOG OF AN APPLICATION.
INDESIGN – BLOWS. SURE it is powerful. BUT it’s a LAYOUT program. 98% of my time designing can be done using Illustrator.
I spell SUITE – SWEET — because Illustrator is all most need in this field.
Dude, I don’t know what drugs you are smoking, but saying Quark works well with CS is like saying you can put a Yugo engine into a Ferrari and not notice any difference.
Quark is utter garbage.
Ditto that, InDesign is a great program. Ive been doing layout and design for over 10 years, and yes, it is neccesary. Preflight and prepress anyone? Illustrator is great too, but each has their place. Could you combine the two, probably, but Adobe is a “corporation” that likes to make “money”. Nothing wrong with that. I see it as the tools of my trade, and good tools are expensive. Btw, CS3 is not only the most intuitive release with a fantastic customizable workspace, but the fastest as well. And Jim is right, Quark Sux, wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. The only people using it still are the ones too afraid to change. I laugh at print vendors who require files to be in Quark, they must be losing a lot of business. Get with the times.
I hate CS, yes that includes CS1, CS2 and C3.
Adobe is the new Microsoft. Like in Office Suite.
Agree… Photoshop has become bloatware…
…and Indesign, a crappy makeover of Pagemaker
lame lame lame
Regarding Quark, we had terrible problems in Quark 6 with the App crashing when showing/hiding guides among many others. After speaking to the Foreign Office, sorry, technical support, I was told to email my crash logs and they would look into them as a matter of urgency.
3 weeks later I get an email from Quark:
WE’VE BEEN LISTENING, AND WE HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW LOGO.
That was the day I deleted Quark off my Mac and never used it again.
I’ve still got a G3 with Quark 4 on, and it is practically identical to Quark 7. Pathetic.
MacFlash: Apple – where the hell is Flash support on my damn iPhone? What were you smokin’ when you left off flash? Only thing I can think of is that the CPU in the iPhone is too slow to handle flash.
It’s more likely that it’s a power consumption issue when I look at the crazy power demands of Flash in Safari on the Mac. It’s way out of line for what it does.
After thorough optimization that will probably change.
@Hmmm…
There is nothing hobbled about the MacPro’s bus. In fact, it is even faster than the Quad G5’s bus was. Both computers feature dual 64-bit frontside buses, with the G5 running at 1.25GHz and the MacPro running at 1.33GHz. Also, the G5’s SATA controller runs at a paltry 150MB/s compared to the MacPro’s 3GB/s. The specs for the MacPro are all around better than those of the G5, so I really don’t see where your complaints are coming from. The G5 is still a viable option, but your criticisms of the MacPro are not justified.
And for the record, CS2 is the most crashtastic bunch of software that I have ever worked with, especially Illustrator! Is CS3 this bad?
MW – “straight”, as in “Get your facts straight.”
@MacGuy: “…and Indesign, a crappy makeover of Pagemaker”
What are you talking about??? InDesign blows PageMaker out of the water. It outperforms PageMaker in every area, and then some. I’d never go back. And evidently many in the industry agree; major publishers are moving over to InDesign from Quark all the time.
Those that think of the apps in the Creative Suite as bloatware are just in over their heads. I’ve used just about every feature any of these apps offer; and even those I haven’t used are interesting, I just have no use for them yet. Well worth the price.
“Those that think of the apps in the Creative Suite as bloatware are just in over their heads.” Yeah, in the septic tank that Adobe has become.
“I’ve used just about every feature these apps have to offer;….”
Well, lad dee dah. Should we genuflect to kiss your ring?
Military Police? Wad’ya work for “Stars and Stripes”?
I’ve only seen a hand full of Quark files in the last four years. I didn’t even know there was a Quark 7 until about a month ago.
InDesign is solid and very intuitive.
However, I still prefer FreeHand over Illustrator. It just had more finesse. I hope future versions of Illustrator will incorporate some of the best features of FH such as bezier line control and text on a curve (remember just hitting the return to set right reading text at the bottom of a circle?)
Yeah, I miss FreeHand, but the rest of the CS package is great.