Adobe should cut its iPhone losses and switch focus

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Adobe should cut its losses with Apple and target its flagship Flash Player at telecoms carriers, independent analyst Ovum has claimed in a new report.

With the spat over Apple’s refusal to support the Adobe Flash technology on its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices continuing to generate column inches, Ovum believes it is time for Adobe to turn the tables by courting new sponsors of its technology in the shape of telecoms operators.

The report states that Adobe and telecoms carriers are faced with similar threats and share similar goals in relation to value-added applications and content, and that carriers should therefore seek an industry-wide partnership with Adobe to use Flash as the basis of their own multi-screen device, development, delivery, and distribution systems.

Ovum believes both sides could work together to create a developer ecosystem around connected devices that would compete with, and even outdo its rivals in terms of developer and user experience and multi-screen reach.

Tony Cripps, Ovum principal analyst and report author, said: “The reality is that in the new multi-screen world, Apple and Adobe are ultimately competing for the support of the same finite pool of application and content developers.

“If Adobe is to continue growing the opportunity for Flash and its ability to pull through sales of its developer tools, it needs to find new ways to leverage its existing developer goodwill. Doing so would help maximise opportunities for success in an environment where heavily vertically-integrated offerings from vendors such as Apple are beginning to lead developer thinking through force of will and market dominance.”

Cripps added: ”Clearly, if Flash is to become a preferred technology around which carriers can build their applications and content strategies – while retaining or increasing its own relevance to developers – it will not just happen by itself. There needs to be a will in both directions to drive this idea forward. However, we are convinced there is merit in the idea and that it should be pursued.”