“Folks a lot smarter than I have wondered over the years about potential Apple mergers and acquisitions driven by Steve’s bloodlust. Apple-Disney, Apple-Google, Apple-TiVo, even Apple-Sun come to mind, but the only one that makes any sense to me at all is Apple-Adobe,” Cringely writes.
“If such an acquisition were to take place it would have to be in 2008 while Avid and Microsoft still present credible competition to keep the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission from opposing such a merger. It would go easier, too, on W’s watch. I knew he was good for something,” Cringely writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve long hoped that Apple would buy Adobe and, since we love the ruthless Steve, begin phasing out Windows versions of applications a la Shake. At the very least, Mac users would get much more timely updates from Apple than from Adobe. That interminable wait for a Universal Photoshop really soured us on Adobe.
Look at that, it’s the rumor that keeps on rumoring.
Another wacky Cringley dream. This just isn’t in the cards
I like Cringley.
Even when he is wrong I learn a lot about the industry.
I hope Apple does buy up Adobe before Microsoft buys them up, or has a third party buy them up for them.
I REALLY hope this happens. Photoshop could be much improved, and Adobe doesn’t seem to want to do it. Dump the legacy Windows support, or at least bring the Mac version of it to XCode.
This again? sheesh.
Adobe’s market cap is currently $22bn, roughly $7bn under Apple’s current rumored stash. I really doubt this happening any time soon.
It’s funny how MDN refers to him self in plural. I wonder if Smigel is behind MDN? Or maybe it’s Gollum.
In any case Adobe’s 65% business is Windows. Why would anybody want to kill 65% on any venture? I personally think Apple already has Adobe’s customers as far as creatives. So how would this benefit Apple?
Competition good, monopoly, not good.
Apple… and we as Mac users… could only benefit from this.
Bring back Freehand!
Or at least fold some of the Freehand into Illustrator, too.
Biggest bunch of nonsense I have seen for awhile on the Apple rumor circuit.
I love it. That would be awesome.
A few years back, Apple acquired E-magic (formerly C-Lab) with its Logic software. As soon as this happened, they announced that there will be no more Windows versions.
Apple can still acquire Adobe with a partial stock deal. They may not want to cease development of Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and such right away. However, pushing Mac versions on the front burner and discontinuing Windows-only products would make an expected end result. It is likely, though, that Premiere would be killed, as Final Cut would have preference. Just like GoLive died its inevitable death when Adobe bought MacroMedia.
I doubt that Apple would want to burn through all of its $15B stash on just Adobe, as significant as it may be. There is no major motivation for Apple to reign in Adobe. With Mac share climbing, Adobe will only be improving its Mac offerings.
It is time for Bob to change the bongwater
Do it, Apple!
Aplobee. I like it!
This question has been asked before. I think it would be silly:
Should Apple buy Adobe. That would be no.
This was a deal that ought to have been made a long time ago.
Predrag, when companies acquire other companies, they rarely use cash to do it. Apple might put up 1 or 2B in cash (if any cash is involved at all) and then give Adobe shareholders the rest in Apple stock. So, they wouldn’t have to dip into their stash of cash to buy Adobe at all.
Mr. Reee,
I totally agree with you with bringing back Freehand. Best vector drawing software ever made.
I really don’t think many people understand the concept of a merger. When you do that it is to gain an advantage in market share or profitibility in that line of business. You don’t want to kill the market share by not making software for windows like mac-nugget said. Also, as mac-nugget said, how would buying adobe benifit apple if they cut windows out? It wouldn’t do anything but lose apple a lot of money.
Don’t get me wrong, I have had a mac since I can remember, and it’s all i use outside of my work laptop, which is a dell. But I find it funny to see all of these “Mac addicts” “fan boys” etc etc talking about what apple as a company should do when they don’t even understand simple business models. A lot of what I read on this site is funny. Like someone suggesting apple should buy sony… That make a lot of sense considering sony is much much bigger than apple. Apple has it’s niche market with trendy technology and they are doing wonderful, why change that? Sure you want to make it better, and continue to grow in market share but why get away from doing what you are good at?
I’ve gone back and forth on whether Apple would/should buy Adobe many times but now I hear Cringely thinks it will happen …
I *know* it won’t occur.
Buy them or write their own Creative suite. Adobe has treated Apple customers as second class citizens for so many years. Yet treated Windows users as first class citizens. Apple should buy them or compete.
New iPhone coming!!! Edge and 3G combined!!
To Mittens Romney,
I totally agree and that’s exactly what I was thinking; someone further up (Jay-Z, I think) had suggested that Apple couldn’t buy Adobe even if they wanted to, since they don’t have enough cash to buy out Adobe’s outstanding stock. Apple would still have to dip into their own stash of AAPL in order to pay Adobe’s share holders, though.
I agree with Jeremy. Can someone point out any example of when Cringley has been _right_ about apple? This won’t happen. Apple could much less expensively create a competing product if they wanted, and their primary concern with creating software is to make sure good software exists for the mac. There’s no chance Adobe will abandon the mac, unlike, say, MS Office which gives MS leverage over apple.
Considering AAPL’s cash + market cap, a cash-stock deal may make a lot of sense and would not not necessarily have to deplete the cash hoard.
Would acquisition of Adobe add shareholder value? You bet.
Is it likely to happen? Maybe, maybe not.
An Apple purchase of Adobe would be ok. I was thrilled when Apple bought eMagic though I would have liked Apple to keep producing and put some R&D;into the eMagic hardware produces for Audio Capture. The Other purchase that would make for a good fix with Apple would be Mark of the Unicorn. MOTU has some really great Audio and HD Video Capture/Processors products that would make a good fix for Logic (formally eMagic Logic) and Final Cut.
If Apple were to buy Adobe, we can be thankful that Steve Jobs is much smarter than MDN.
Pulling the plug on Windows versions of the various Adobe products would be buying a car and than ripping the quarter panels off: “Hey, lets gut the value of the company after paying $x billions of dollars to acquire it.”
I for one would be so pissed that I would simply seek an alternative to Adobe products rather than be blackmailed into buying a Mac. There’s always an alternative.
Jay-Z said: Adobe’s market cap is currently $22bn, roughly $7bn under Apple’s current rumored stash. I really doubt this happening any time soon.
In a situation like this, it would be primarily a stock deal anyway without Apple needing to expend their cash to acquire Adobe. Stock for stock transactions are tax free and presumably the acquired asset(s) would balance the stock dilution so that Apple’s stock would maintain its pre-acquisition level or even rise due to perceived synergy. So don’t let the amount of cash that Apple has lead you to think it’s unlikely.
Cringley makes me cringe. When was the last time he was right on anything Apple? C’mon Robert, have you never heard of the word “monopoly”? The merger would surely be blocked for the reason that Apple would control large parts of the design market.
i doubt it, but if nothing else you have to give him credit for finding a situation in which W would be useful.
heck of a job bushie.
nevertheless, at $22-25 bln., it doesn’t make much sense.
It would take forever for Apple to see a return on their investment. With net income of around 750 million, it would take around 15-20 years to get their money back. Even if their profit rose to $2 bln./yr it would still take 10 years and it’ll take a little while before Adobe sees that kind of profit.
Interesting as all the acquisition rumors are. I was at CES for a short time because I wanted to see one thing and that was SyncTV. One of the odd things I noticed at the SyncTV booth was a set top box that they had hidden because they could not disclose who they were partnering with just yet. The odd thing was that the remote the rep. was trying to keep hidden was an Apple remote (I know them well) and the little of the interface that I saw looked a lot like the Apple TV interface.
My Question is could Apple be bring SyncTV’s content HD and all directly to the Apple TV like they did with YouTube?
An exclusive SyncTV partnership to make the Apple TV the SyncTV set top box would make much more sense then Apple acquiring Adobe.
Apple should create apps that out Adobe out of business. I hate Adobe. Their FrameMaker software that I’m forced to use is over priced crap,
Whether the acquisition would be worthwhile probably depends on what Apple has in mind. Revisit this after the keynote 2009. Owning Flash and PDF might be more profitable than we can see from here.
An universal Shockwave plugin would be nice as well.
Risky to buy Adobe and shit out the Windows version, at least right away. Phase it out and it will help Apple gain inroads in some areas of enterprise.
@Jeremy
“Sony is a much, much bigger company”
Huh?
Sony Market Cap 55.4B
Aapl Market Cap 151B
I just finished installing and updating Adobe CS3 and I must say: At first glance, it looks a little rough around the edges. For starters, even after installing all available updaters I’m getting weird messages in Acrobat, Bridge and Photoshop about missing or outdated components. Not exactly what one would expect from a package that costs $1799! Adobe could and should do better. It’s hard for me to imagine that Apple would actually buy Adobe, but it certainly would be great if they ever did.
error correction for above post, @Tyler
FAIL
From a business standpoint (that means making a profit), dumping Adobe’s windows versions is about as stupid as it would be for Microsoft to stop making the mac version of Office out of spite.
To critic:
Yeah, killing the Windows apps would be childish. So, how about just releasing the Windows versions a year or two behind the OS X versions and leaving some of the features out?
Sound familiar?
Apple would be buying a shitload of legacy code that they will have to re-engineer. It will be a huge hassle, and Apple would probably have to fire all the retarded engineers Adobe is currently strapped with, especially the project managers. It won’t be easy or pretty. They would be better off just starting over for most of it.
An Apple-Adobe merger would break my heart into a million little pieces.
=(
Gonna have to spend some of the billions on something. Excellent fit. Maybe why Elements 6 came out so suddenly.
Would wrap up Design/Graphics leaving more development for Consumer and Enterprise development.
@ Hmmm
“Maybe why Elements 6 came out so suddenly.”
Er, no.
No, no, no!
I think it’s a bit expensive for what you get. Although it could really add muscle to their Application suites (iLife for one).
I’d love Apple to buy Adobe. And then maybe it won’t be continually trying to phone home. My company has a firewall and prevents my software from trying to do this. So, no updates for me and constantly being bugged for not contacting directly to Adobe.
I know they do this so nobody will steal their product, but why don’t they make it easier for you to contact them? Sheesh! If Apple bought Adobe, then your software would still try to phone home but it would do it correctly where you could actually get it to connect (sort of like the crash reports always seem to make it out to Apple).
Here’s another angle. What about the new “Core” technologies that were offered in Tiger and expanded in Leopard that Adobe cannot offer because if they did their Mac products would be far superior to their Windows versions.
I’ve got to believe that by now Steve is growing very impatient waiting to see a major player in the software market utilizes these technologies. If they were to buy Adobe they would no longer have to keep the playing field level. They could offer superior Mac products and the inferior windows products would eventually fade away on their own. If Apple owned Adobe they would not lose money because the folks who use these products would simply change platforms.
Could there be a more effective way to promote the superiority of OS-X than to show it off by a disparity in Adobe’s product line?
I still don’t see it happening. Apple is a hardware company. They don’t want to dabble in software unless they have to. The majority of Adobe’s products are well written enough, Apple doesn’t have to do it for them. (Excluding a little crossover with iPhoto & Aperture). And Apple would have no interest in continuing to strenuously support Adobe products for Windows or fight the ensuing lawsuits if they pulled the plug. Besides, as long as MS Office exists, Apple needs MS support, at least indirectly.
Yes, I’ve been suggesting this for YEARS. The biggest problem comes if Apple doesn’t buy Adobe.. and someone else does!
Microsoft, for example?
And if I were an advisor at MS (clearly, they have none), I would be advising just that. Buying Adobe would be tremendous leverage over Apple.
And MS is going to need all they can get.
Right on Mr. Reeee!
“Bring back Freehand!
Or at least fold some of the Freehand into Illustrator, too.”
Freehand had so many more intuitive and simple features!
Cringely is a twat – Apple never brought any of those companies (disney, google etc) they simply partnered with them to create better products. Apple likes to partner, they generally don’t buy.
Apple won’t buy Adobe, Apple doesn’t need Adobe… I don’t even see Apple partnering with Adobe as such. Unless Adobe falls flat on it’s face these companies with remain solo.
As for the Adobe Software being Apple only, keep dreaming, as if Apple or Adobe would cut out 90% of their market…
I just wish Apple was allowed to buy FreeHand from Adobe and add it to their iWork apps. People talk about monopolies, what do they think Adobe is now? After buying Macromedia, what other options are out there? And yes, I know Macromedia had stopped updated FreeHand almost five years ago, but it still kicks the crap out of Illus-gaytor today.
If Apple could at least get ahold of the existing FreeHand code, Universal-ize it, put some Apple-spin on it and release it to the world, hallelujah, we’d have some competition in layout world again. InDesign at least has Quark.
NOOOOOO!!!!
Buying a big, fat, bloated, overweight, has-been, boat anchor company is not what Apple needs.
disagree. best M&A;deal is that ballmer at microsoft buys apple and has he good grace to fire the lot at microsoft, including himself, and lets apple do for us users what we really want.
Apple buying Sun? That would be the deal of the century!
What an incredible way to enter into the enterprise world!
Please don’t.
Adobe is terrible bloatware.
Long live small developers who can deliver inexpensive software that can deliver
What’s with all the goonage re: “sitting on a pile of cash”…. you don’t need cash to buy companies, you need stock. High-flying stock. But why buy Adobe just to get all that spaghetti code? Further, folks, why kill off a huge chunk of value by stopping production on windows products? So what if Vinnie Vista can run Photoshop.
Apple will corner the market if they can pull this off. They’ll own the complete web/publishing suit along with thier superior video editing software. Is ther anything else like Flash? Other than Director/Authorware? Features from Fireworks could be blended into Photoshop. They just need to tweak Microsoft office to run more Mac like. No good designing a Mac office, unfortunately MS Office is entrenched, best to get along rather than buck.
HMCIV
Whos them? I assume Adobe would carry on as Adobe with thier current staff and just be under new management. Apple.
Any (and it’s a lot) windows users who want Photoshop will have to buy it from Ad.. Apple.
It’s taling a while but eventually people willrealise the Mac is the superior machine. And the option to run windows is there if you realy need it.
Adobe is the software giant that should be tackled.
Micosoft is certainly a threat, yet software is very important to an OS. Adobe makes many more applications then MS – I think. More applications requires time. Adobe knows Windows is the dominant OS in numbers of users. So it sold-out to the masses leaving Apple to wonder off on it’s own.
The problem though, this made Mac users second class citizens when before the softwares were first on the Mac. The recent move for Adobe to sell Suites was a clever move at attempting to out do Quark. However, Quark leapfrogged and did Q7 natively in Coco for OSX before Indesign did. Smart on Quarks part.
Still Adobe keeps us waiting – long wait times for software updates. One each year. It basically runs like Microsoft. And has many ex-Microsoft employees. Sure they do a great job but they develop first for Windows and use the old MS strategy. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Saddly, there are many bugs still, many computations and errors that Illustrator CS2 and 3 still have. It’s not perfect. And I would imagine Apple to hamper themselves with fixing all this. It’s an interesting concept. To buy out Adobe. But then Apple becomes a huge software co. When I believe post-pc and embedded OSX is Apples future… a happy blend of OS and Hardware.
I do not believe Apple will do so. They can still compete in software where they are. And with Server Sharing Applications like Google Docs… this is the way Applications will go.
Never update a software again. Rent the use of it online. Or for free. Open-source applications… all these make sense… not the other way around.
Ken Johnson
Oh and games are a mute point. I’m almost 40 years old. I don’t need games.
I’m a graphic artist and love Adobe gear, I’m assuming most knockers of this idea are young non graphic type people. People who use their computers for games, web, tv, music, movies and ripping – Entertainment. That’s all great. You don’t have to buy or download anything you don’t need. But some of us actually use our computers. What other company (especialy now Adobe has Macromedia) makes things like Illustrator or Photoshop. I’m aware of Gimp and Quark and Freehand etc. But Flash is unique surley. Seriously a quick list of what equals what would be apreciated.
I’m running Adobe CS1 on a 233mhz 2core Macbook Pro 10.4.8. I don’t know if it’s UB or what but it runs and runs well. We have CS2 at work on an old G4 pinstripe tower from the 90’s it runs OK its just the machines so bloody slow these days. Hard to believe it was banned in Lebanon when it first came out. ‘Super’ copmuter, not now. Anyway I’m just saying is it realy nesessary to have the absolutest uptodatest software. If things work they work, right?
I soured on Adobe when they unceremoniously dropped development of Premiere–just after I had purchased the “video suite” for 2 grand–and left the app stagnant in classic hell.
Andrew K,
“233mhz 2core Macbook Pro”
Huh?
Thomas,
“Oh and games are a mute point. I’m almost 40 years old. I don’t need games.”
They might be ‘moot’ also. But that is beside the point. You (or we) don’t NEED music, movies, beer or Victoria’s Secrets either. But life would really be boring without them.
You need to try a good FPS (first person shooter) game. Nothing better to relieve your aggression and hostility than fragging a bunch of mutated, gory monstrosities. Or, on the lighter side, some of the Nintendo Wii sports games. Age has nothing to do with it. It’s a state of mind.
If they’d do it, it will be hostile take over. Adobe’s products are aging. Apple can make a better Photoshop with their core technologies. Adobe’s products are also clearly suffering from cross-platform code. More and more Adobe’s products are feeling “non-Mac”.
I’m afraid that Cringely is totally WRONG! I just don’t see Apple investing a huge chunk of change on Adobe. And it would be a very hefty price to buy Adobe. Apple has typically gone after the little guys not major companies like Adobe. I think Steve would rather invest his money in Apple’s R&D;for great new products then buy a company like Adobe. I don’t think it makes financial sense in this case at all. My feeling is this won’t happen.
I hope Apple never will buy Adobe. It is a very bad idea. Adobe is the MS for the graphic design software. If you ever have used Illustrator or Photoshop in a serious way, you know what I am talking about. It is first class bloat ware and the worst is that there are no serious alternatives. Macromedia Freehand have been killed. Apple however made the mistake not to buy Macromedia in the past.
@ LorD1776
I beg to differ, my friend…
I *need* beer.
ChrissyOne,
“I beg to differ, my friend… I *need* beer.”
I hear ya darlin’. If you were here I would give you one. Or more, as needed.
I like trying different brands and types myself. I go for quality, not quantity as in my younger days. Sure can’t handle that anymore.
What are your favorites? Mine are Amber Bock and Blue Moon draft right now. Had some Dos Equis and Tsing Tao this week. Not bad stuff. Full Moon is nummy too.
LorD1776
Two Hearted Ale or Saranac Imperial IPA for a full, hoppy flavor. Blithering Idiot or Old Stock for a Barleywine. Duck Rabbit Milk Stout for a meal. Utica Club for a domestic Pilsener.
And all-time favorites: Schlitz for a Lager and Mickey’s for Malt Liquor!
MDN word “water” – What???
Hopshortage,
Thanks! I had to google them but it was interesting. I wonder how many there are in the U.S. when you include all the majors, micros, imports and seasonal brews. Fascinating. And sometimes very tasty.
LorD1776
The Micros are making some nice brews and getting the U.S. back to where it was (brewing wise) before Prohibition when we had over 300 breweries. Nothing like having choices.
Hopshortage,
So true.
this would be great…it would be huge. Just imagine apple re-coding flash to make it work perfect on mac hardware (including iPhone an iPad), and cutting prices on every adobe product for mac, while raising it for windows…there will be an extremely large number of people going for mac for adobe…