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Commentary & Analysis
Adobe, you're breaking my heart
By Frank Romano
Published: January 22, 2010
Additional Reading:
Cary Sherburne: The View from Adobe and the Field
Print CEO: Adobe Discontinues worldwide Adobe Partner Connection Print Service Provider Program
Adobe Systems helped to build the modern printing industry and now, it appears, they are hellbent on destroying it -- not by willful action, but by neglect. Without the de facto standard of PostScript, digital printing could not have made the inroads it did; CTP would not have happened as we know it; and PDF would not have created the ability to move files around with ease, irrespective of device or resolution. They were active supporters of the printing industry and worked with print providers and users alike. But, today, Adobe appears to have written off print as it focuses on Flash and new media. Some say Adobe has given the printing industry the finger.
Adobe Systems Incorporated is a provider of graphic design, publishing, and imaging software for Web and print production. Adobe has a market cap of $19.22 billion; its shares were traded at around $36.69 with a P/E ratio of 27.7 and P/S ratio of 6.6. Adobe had an annual average earning growth of 15 percent over the past decade. The company, which focused on the creation of print, multimedia, and creativity software products, has forayed into rich Internet application software development, along with Google, Microsoft, and just about everyone else. Much of its software development is done in India. Most Adobe print-related products are managed from India.
Over the last few years, Adobe has been cutting its ties to the printing industry. Their primary liaison was let go and with them, links to printing associations, academia, and users. Although the applications folks still provide some support, the primary vehicle of support, the worldwide Adobe Partner Connection Print Service Provider Program will be discontinued, effective February 4, 2010, due to membership decline.
So -- they cut the people who promoted the program and then claim a decline.
They say "that the print segment continues to be important and that the company will retain its ongoing relationship with regional print industry associations." Print service providers are referred to their regional partner program helpdesk if they have any questions about program policies. Forcing members to join a local and/or national association to get the Partner benefits is unfair and unethical. What about services that do not want to join a local and/or national association to become an Adobe Partner?
The program had two levels: Authorized membership ($595) and Premium membership ($995). Both programs offered various technical, product, and promotional benefits. Following the departure of their printing industry evangelist, it is not clear who is tasked with promoting the program or if it is being promoted at all.
The Partner Program is vitally important. It means that print services get Adobe software and training before their customers. Printers just love it when they get files from customers because the customer got the latest application revision before them. Hey Adobe -- there are still printers -- and there will always be printers.
"We experienced an improvement in customer demand for our products in Q4," said Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO of Adobe. "We believe the investments we have made in the past year, and the new products we will deliver in the coming year, will drive top line growth as the economy improves." I am sorry to tell you this, sir, but when you lose print, you will lose the heart and soul of your company. Please do not have your PR folks inundate us with false promises to continue to support print. Actions speak louder than words.
Adobe has done a terrible job promoting is own PDF Print Engine which takes PDF files, not PostScript files. They have left it to their OEMs who have not done well in explaining what it is all about. I do not want to return to a time when every maker of output devices has their own language for file input. Remember when a word processing program came with 20 disks filled with drivers for every printer in the world? Remember the plethora of typesetting languages? All that went away with PostScript.
Founder and Co-Chairman of the Board of Adobe Systems Inc. Charles M Geschke sold 400,000 shares on 12/21/2009 at an average price of $37.22 a share. Founder and Co-Chairman of the Board of Adobe Systems Inc. John E Warnock sold 160,000 shares on 01/04/2010 at an average price of $36.69. What does this have to do with Adobe's abandonment of print? I do not know.
On the good side, Adobe has been active in standards groups in the last few years and there are people who still participate in some of the blogs and forums. But that could end as well. It would be nice to see Adobe at trade shows and conferences again. A new version of PDF for Variable Data Printing could help to advance VDP because the failed approaches of most suppliers who supported the failed PPML have not. But Adobe may not be there to promote it and thus we will be back to no standards for VDP.
Print has been the one area where Adobe dominates. In every other area of their business they have competitors. In a multi-media world it would make sense to leverage print as the company moves into digital media. But sadly no one in management at Adobe sees that.
I realize that giant corporations must make hard business decisions. But I think that Adobe is making a grave mistake in abandoning print. It reminds me of Wang Labs. They built giant buildings in their heyday, but then lost their way, and now people visit those buildings and wonder who Wang was. Some day, they will visit San Jose and ask who Adobe was, because the transience of pixels will never replace the permanence of print..
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