Microsoft and Adobe Executives Meet to Discuss Apple, Possible Merger

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Microsoft and Adobe Executives Meet to Discuss Apple, Possible Merger

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen (left) and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (right)

The New York Times reports that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and other executives recently held a secret meeting with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to discuss a number of topics, including how the two companies might work together to take on Apple in the mobile industry, as well as a possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft.

Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, recently showed up with a small entourage of deputies at Adobe's corporate offices in San Francisco to hold a secret meeting with Adobe's chief executive, Shantanu Narayen.

The meeting, which lasted over an hour, covered a number of topics, but one of the main thrusts of the discussion was Apple and its control of the mobile phone market and how the two companies could partner in the battle against Apple. A possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft were among the options.

One source indicates that representatives of the two companies discussed Apple's refusal to support the viewing of Flash content on its mobile devices and how a partnership between the companies might offer them additional leverage against Apple's gains in the sector.

A second source reveals that executives revisited the possibility of an acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft, a proposal that was briefly floated several years ago before being abandoned over fears that the merger would not pass muster under antitrust regulations. With the growth of Apple and Google, however, those concerns may be less now than they were at the time of the initial discussions.

Adobe's stock is currently up over 10% on the rumors of a Microsoft acquisition.

Source: Mac Rumors

[Ryster]

Microbe :)

[George P Global Moderator]

That'd be a surprise move, but it does make sense in the long run since MS loves doing platforms, and adboe with it's tools and IP is about making/building apps with their own web based platform in flash/air etc. It would be very interesting if it goes down.

[Melfster]

God I hope not. I think it would be bad Idea for the Tech industry.

[Elliott]

Still seems like a huge antitrust issue to me.

God I hope not. I think it would be bad Idea for the Tech industry.

I feel the same way.

[evo_spook]

Adobe and Microsoft should not be allowed to merge, just as Adobe and Macromedia should never have being allowed to happen.

[mad_onion]

Yeah surely this is the very definition of anti competitive I'm pretty sure the largest software company wouldn't be allowed enough massive software company.

[nub]

Oh god no.

[Fluxii Media]

Why can't they merge? I fail to see how it would do ANY harm except to Apple... which everyone is already after Apple as it is. Haha.

[murkurie]

so Microsoft Silverlight and Microsoft Flash :laugh: XPS format and PDF format,

Maybe microsoft can replace flash with silverlight

I don't see how this would affect anyone other then apple or maybe google.

[torrentthief]

i wish microsoft just bought flash and air off adobe that way they could fix them and make them fast and secure, leave adobe with their creativity suite that way i don't think it would be anti-competitive.

[primexx]

don't like the proposition of a MS-Adobe merger either

[bjoswald]

I see it as a positive thing. Maybe with Flash content merged with Silverlight, Silverlight might actually be worth having. As of right now it seems like there's only a dozen or so pages that need it and they're all MS-based.

[winrez]

I am sure just because represenatives from two businesses meet it means they will merge :rolleyes:

could it possibly have something to do with Flash on Windows Phone, Strategies against Apple, Internet Standards, Advertising or maybe just two friends meeting that worked at different companies

(Im thinking this is gonna be blown out of preportion)

[Growled Member]

Microsoft has ruined every image program they've ever touched. The surest way to get rid of Adobe is for MS to buy them.

[macrosslover]

not that Microsoft has the balls to do it, but I wonder what would happen to the Apple platform if photoshop was no longer available. I wonder if Apple would come out with some amazing piece of software to fill the void.

[COKid]

not that Microsoft has the balls to do it, but I wonder what would happen to the Apple platform if photoshop was no longer available. I wonder if Apple would come out with some amazing piece of software to fill the void.

Photoshop isn't going anywhere.

[FiB3R]

Microsoft has ruined every image program they've ever touched. The surest way to get rid of Adobe is for MS to buy them.

Apart from Paint, what other image programs have they touched?

[Raa]

It's not going to happen. You'll have every anti-competitive group all over this deal...

[fhpuqrgrpgvirzhpujbj]

Microsoft has ruined every image program they've ever touched. The surest way to get rid of Adobe is for MS to buy them.

Microsoft played big part in Paint.net.

[dnast]

Apart from Paint, what other image programs have they touched?

I had to dig through an old pile of CDs to remember the name, but Microsoft bought out a company by the name of Altamira. They made a graphics program called Composer that was pretty impressive at the time (like early 90s). I spent of bunch of time using it to make "fancy" logos as a kid :laugh:. Microsoft bought the company and made some improvements to the program but abandoned it for some reason. Can't think of anything after that, though...

Edit: As far as the topic, as much as I'm enjoying Microsoft at the moment I don't think they should be able to own Flash and Photoshop. That's just too much control for one company.

[COKid]

Microsoft was successful with Yahoo, so I wouldn't put it past them to pull this off. And remember, any merger would take years to complete and by that time you are likely to have the business-friendly GOP back in control.

I'm not saying this is good or bad, just that it could actually happen. How about Microsoft merges with Adobe and Apple merges with Google. Just imagine the possibilities...

We could start seeing consolidation similar to what's happened in the airline industry the past several years.

[soniqstylz]

We could start seeing consolidation similar to what's happened in the airline industry the past several years.

Which has worked out so well for the consumer.

[UndergroundWire]

Great news. So...

When can I buy Adobe Vistashop? Will my Droid Incredible support Silverflashair? And how much will ExpressionWeaver run me? I have question, give me answers.

[Raa]

Microsoft was successful with Yahoo <snip>

No, it wasn't.

After several offers, all they managed to get was a % stake in the company.