Adobe says iPhone / iPad adoption and 'alternative technologies' (cough, HTML5) could harm its business

Adobe might continue to crow about Flash and its importance on both the desktop and mobile devices, but there's no lying to investors, and the company is pretty blunt about the threat of the iPhone and iPad in the end-of-quarter Form 10-Q it just filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission: it flatly says that "to the extent new releases of operating systems or other third-party products, platforms or devices, such as the Apple iPhone or iPad, make it more difficult for our products to perform, and our customers are persuaded to use alternative technologies, our business could be harmed."

Now, Adobe has to make doom-and-gloom statements in its SEC filings -- it also says that slowing PC sales or a failure to keep up with desktop OS development could harm its business -- but the timing is crazy here, since just yesterday Apple changed the iPhone OS 4 SDK agreement to block devs from using the upcoming Flash CS5 iPhone cross-compiler to build iPhone apps. What's more, Apple's also using HTML5 for its new iAd platform, which could potentially undo Flash's stranglehold on online advertising as well. Yeah, we'd say all that plus the recent push for HTML5 video across the web -- and from Microsoft -- could harm Adobe's business just a little. Better hope that final version of Flash Player 10.1 is everything we'd hoped and dreamed of, because Adobe's going to have to make a real stand here.

[sophocha Posted Apr 10th 2010 9:21AM]

If you don`t want your stocks going down Adobe then release 10.1 for all smartphones.....then you have the competition where you want them!....if not then I`m afraid HTML5 will someday hurt you really bad

[cdf74dc9 Posted Apr 10th 2010 9:41AM]

@sophocha

Yes, If I had flash on my N1 then I can care less about what the other guy said.

[cdf74dc9 Posted Apr 10th 2010 9:33AM]

@Kabe

Crash came from many problems. One of them is Jobs telling you it's because of Flash.

[cloudyskies Posted Apr 10th 2010 9:42AM]

I swear, Apple's going to rule the world one day

[ProsumeThis Posted Apr 10th 2010 10:25AM]

It's just too damn expensive for designers too. Maybe if they made it $300 or something, they will buy it. Flash costs $700 now.

[bigcow05 Posted Apr 10th 2010 11:24AM]

It's finally time for Flash to die. As a web developer, the death of IE6 and Flash are the two things I most wish for.

[Kensai Posted Apr 10th 2010 4:35PM]

A sincere question to the HTML5 field (which I support btw)...

Is it possible to write web games like Café World without Flash?

[Bahumbug Posted Apr 10th 2010 4:56PM]

Adobe should use this as motivation to pull all its ten fingers out of its butt and turn flash into a less sucky experience for many underpowered computers and all mac desktops. Instead of whining, that is.

10.1 is not the be all end all solution, though.

[McKirf Posted Apr 10th 2010 8:21PM]

@Bahumbug

Or simply put... both fists!

[McKirf Posted Apr 10th 2010 6:35PM]

Dear Flash. Don't go away mad, just go away!

[bar10dr Posted Apr 10th 2010 8:10PM]

Finally!!!

Bye bye flash it was not a fun ride!

[adrianmak Posted Apr 10th 2010 9:12PM]

if Apple is really try to push open standard, quicktime format should be get rid of and use ogg format instead.

[adrianmak Posted Apr 10th 2010 9:14PM]

DON'T be think apple has higher morality than other companies. Be honest, all of them are the same kind.

[targumanu Posted Apr 10th 2010 11:07PM]

As a developer of interactive media using both HTML/CSS/Javascript and Flash based technologies, I find most of the "Flash is dead" based comments just plain silly. Flash has in fact become more feature rich over time and IS the standard for rich interactive media.

Just today my son played games on Nickolodean, my nephew did two virtual tours of college campuses, and my wife and I 'built' our own hybrid vehicle. All of these applications were realized with Adobe's Flash technology. Had we visited those sites with an IPad we would have been staring, in the best case, at a message telling us we needed Flash and at worst an empty space. That is reality today. Those sites are not changing because Steve Jobs declares Flash dead. Clients will continue to ask for rich media and developers will continue to use Flash until the market dictates otherwise. HTML5 isn't fully realized until around 2020 and only a subset by 2012.

I am just finishing a video conferencing virtual classroom application with live/HD audio/video streaming and other interactive elements (e.g. chat) for a client. This app will be embedded on their website and will work with other 'pads' that support Flash and have a camera on the front (e.g. HP Slate). HTML5/CSS3 will not provide a solution for this customer in 2012 (and maybe never) and they certainly aren't asking me to wait because of the IPad or comments Steve Jobs might make. And that is all that matters for me right now as a developer.