They share an area code, a customer segment and a history dating back to the early days of personal computing. But Apple Computer and Adobe Systems, like many in long-term relationships, have seen the 20-years-and-counting bond between them run hot and cold.
Right now, it"s in a colder period. Signs of frost have been accumulating for the past couple of years, with Adobe dropping Macintosh support for several software products and introducing others as Microsoft Windows-only applications. At the same time, Apple has quietly pushed Adobe out of a few markets by selling its own applications or bundling them into its OS X operating system. Analyst and customers say that while the two are likely to be close partners for many more years, the relationship has become more distant.
"They really needed each other 10 or 20 years ago; that"s clearly less important now," Jeffrey Tarter, the editor of software industry newsletter Softetter, said. "Windows has finally become adequate as a publishing platform," he said, meaning graphics professionals can switch to a cheaper platform than the Mac. "Given the original relationship was intensely symbiotic, both for product and ownership and financing, the current relationship can only be characterized as arms-length," said Roland Dumas, an Adobe customer and the owner of San Mateo, Calif.-based management consulting service Roberts Information Services.