Despite the hype surrounding last week’s unveiling of Apple Computer Inc’s consumer-oriented iMac system, Adobe Systems Inc said yesterday it wouldn’t develop any new software for the product because of fears it won’t generate the company any revenue. A spokesperson for the California-based software concern, in New York for the launch of a new consumer product next week, said Adobe felt the home computing scales were tipping towards Wintel PCs and that the market for Macintosh products was relatively flat – a statement confirmed by yesterday’s third quarter results (see Finance). The main reason behind the decision, he said, was that Adobe was spending more money developing software applications for the Mac environment than it was drawing in revenues from their sales. It just didn’t make business sense, he said. He added that Steve Jobs, Apple’s interim CEO, was disappointed to learn of Adobe’s decision not to develop new software for the iMac, although he was keen to point out that Jobs appreciated the decision and that Adobe’s existing software, including the flagship product, Photoshop, would be available for the iMac when it ships on August 15. I really hope the iMac is a very successful product for Apple, he said, and if that’s the case, then we’ll definitely make the necessary changes to any software so it can run on the platform. Adobe’s change of heart is significant, especially given the company’s historical relationship with Apple in the high-end graphic design and publishing arenas. But the spokesperson said Adobe still viewed these markets as very important. We still have a large installed base of users in the high-end Mac environments, using applications like Adobe PhotoShop, it’s just that we feel are home products should be designed for Wintel PCs. To this end, Adobe’s new application, to be announced on August 3, will only run on Intel-based computers.
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