Rumor: Apple to sell Final Cut Studio Suite to purchase Adobe Suite?

Not sure how to interpret that; a year ago they said they had 850,000 licenses of FCP out. Now they say there's a million FCP users out there. Which is a lot, certainly, but it's not like they added 850,000 licenses of FCP last year. They added 150,000 last year.

A million users of FCP, since the product was first introduced ten years ago, sounds like a lot. But consider that they sold some 5 million Macs in the first six months of the year for FY08, which means they're on pace to do maybe 10 million macs this year. So, 10 years to get one million units of FCP, or one year to sell 10 million macs? That means that there's 100 macs being sold every year, for every one license of FCP that's ever been sold in history.

Again, not saying they're planning on selling FCP off to someone else, but -- it isn't that big a factor in their business. It's a pimple on their butt, as compared to the things they do that really rake in the dough.
 
Dxmetal said:
I dont remember Apple lowering down the price of the mbp and mp just because of their new OS.
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Has nothing to do with price. What you said is no longer true. You said a lot of GPU's weren't available for Apple Hardware, that's not a true statement any longer.
 
Kholi said:
Has nothing to do with price. What you said is no longer true. You said a lot of GPU's weren't available for Apple Hardware, that's not a true statement any longer.
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You only get to choose one super expensive "PRO LEVEL" Quadro GPU card for the Mac Pro. Do you know how many different Quadro GPU that are available for a more decent price than the Apple priced $2850 Quadro FX5600 ??

Not to mention, you only get a choice of either the ATI 2600 or GeFOrce 8800 if you dont have $2850 for the Quadro. There are tons of options on GPU for a win machine. Not to mention the opportunity to upgrade your GPU later on.

Apple is a "closed system", there is nothing good in the long run on a closed system.
 
Dxmetal said:
You only get to choose one super expensive "PRO LEVEL" Quadro GPU card for the Mac Pro. Do you know how many different Quadro GPU that are available for a more decent price than the Apple priced $2850 Quadro FX5600 ??

Not to mention, you only get a choice of either the ATI 2600 or GeFOrce 8800 if you dont have $2850 for the Quadro. There are tons of options on GPU for a win machine. Not to mention the opportunity to upgrade your GPU later on.

Apple is a "closed system", there is nothing good in the long run on a closed system.
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I don't think you understand where he's going with this and because of it's nature it sounds like he doesn't want to spell it out but I'm pretty sure it begins with hack.
 
On the various Mac rumors pages, there´s even often talk of Apple getting out of the desktop business completely, because they are making more money with iPods and Laptops.
Also Apple doesn´t have a big share of the corporate market, but rather sell to individuals and small companys.
And those buyers are looking for sth "special", for many reasons...
So the reason I believe why Apple won´t drop pro apps, is because then it would just be another PC.
Their image as the machine for creative people is part of the myth they created.
That same myth expanded on the iPod and now on the iPhone.

Buying Adobe would perfectly fit in that part of their portfolio, with PS being THE image editing app out there, AE the most widely used compositor and Flash the quasi internet video standard (ok, more techie, but Flash also has that "coolness" factor...).
 
Their image as the machine for creative people is part of the myth they created.
That same myth expanded on the iPod and now on the iPhone.
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This is true, but it's also old. Now it's iPods that are driving Mac sales. It used to be "if you want to be creative, you need to get a Mac". Now it's "if you want to buy music, you need an iTunes account and an iPod, and once you've got an iPod, you might as well buy an iMac to go with it." So, point being, the ProApps aren't nearly as important as they once were. And, for that matter, the Macs themselves aren't nearly as important as they once were; it used to be all that Apple sold, and now Macs are a minority of their overall revenue stream. Still a huge part of their business, of course, but I doubt that workstations and professional editing are much of Apple's focus anymore. That was a horse they hitched their cart to and it got them where they wanted to go, but it's a tiny niche market compared to what they're chasing now.

Apple's the #1 music seller in the world.
Apple has the #1 music playing device in the world.
Apple's trying to become the #1 phone in the world.

They've got zero chance with computers; their Mac occupies about 6% of the global market share. But in many other ways they're beginning to be dominant. I just don't think they care about the Pro Apps in the overall grander scheme like some of you users think they do. It's a tiny slice of a tiny portion of a tiny niche of their business.
 
Barry_Green said:
They've got zero chance with computers; their Mac occupies about 6% of the global market share.
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The number I heard was 8% but I think to an obvious extent you're right - the day Macs replace Windows machines as the majority of PCs is probably never going to come. But at the same time, their market share has steadily risen the last couple years while Windows market share has fallen. As you said, a significant portion of the new iPod/iPhone customers are coming back and getting iMacs as well. I wouldn't underestimate the power of this halo effect to continue.

Their desktop market share in the U.S. has risen to 14% from 9% a year ago. Not insignificant.


Barry_Green said:
I just don't think they care about the Pro Apps in the overall grander scheme like some of you users think they do. It's a tiny slice of a tiny portion of a tiny niche of their business.
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1 million Final Cut Pro licenses. 49% of the US pro editing market. By comparison, Avid represents 22%.

iPod/iPhone users don't HAVE to buy a Mac to use the product. But 1 million FCP users means 1 million users who HAVE To use Macs, and are far more likely to be buying the higher end towers built to order with expensive graphics cards and multiple displays. Add the $1200+ for the software and the $200 upgrade every so often and I think FCP users DO matter.

1 million FCP users might very well equal 5, 10, or 20 times as many iPod customers in terms of dollars spent.

I think it's more significant than you imply Barry, but you're right, it's by no means Apple's cash cow.

But I also think there's importance for Apple and Jobs (to them) to have that presence in Hollywood, media, entertainment in general. They're very proud of FCP and its popularity and I'm willing to bet they never sell it off.
 
Jared Meyer said:
Y for the low price of $1450. The full ten page 06/07/08 report on non-linear editors is available here:
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WHAT?! :eek:

That´s a typo, please tell me that`s a typo.

The price for a original Gutenberg Bible is less than that per page.

Frank

... Zacuto suddenly seems pretty cheap ;-)
 
Postmaster said:
WHAT?! :eek:

That´s a typo, please tell me that`s a typo.

The price for a original Gutenberg Bible is less than that per page.

Frank

... Zacuto suddenly seems pretty cheap ;-)
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Actually sounds about right - that kind of data from a trusted 3rd party is expensive. To gather that kind of data would cost alot more though.
 
Barry, I think you're overlooking a few things on the ProApps and on the computers:

- 1 million licenses of Final Cut Pro = 1 million workstation computers. As time goes on, these will all need to be upgraded. And the people upgrading these buy the MacPro Towers... where there is a huge mark-up. a fully decked out MacPro Tower with oversized monitors is nearly $20,000 - a huge profit margin. The point being, a million computer sales based on hardware alone, with the computers bought for this software having a huge profit margin = valuable.

Does it pale in comparison to the iPod/iTunes? Certainly, but that doesn't make it insignificant. Further, even Apple said - a million licenses is only PURCHASED copies of Final Cut; pirated copies yeild hardware sales, be it an iMac, MBP, or MacPro Tower.

This market is also growing... there is a reason they practically give away the software at $1200 (in the past it has traditionally been much more expensive) - hardware sales.

100,000 computer upgrades a year (1/10 of the FCP market) at an average of $5,000 a computer would be 500 million dollars gross in hardware sales alone; the software is simply a vehicle for these sales. Over 10 years that is 5 billion dollars gross; perhaps 2.5 billion net.

- 6% market share = not a chance with computers? I don't think so. They are growing rapidly in the past years, and I predict the growth will be exponential, especially amongst the younger crowd. Macs are becoming a very popular, "hip" choice for a computer, and I would not be surprised if they had a 20% share or more in 10 years. As more people get them, more people tell their friends... viral marketing. Even businesses are looking into Macs now - IBM is talking of converting a whole department to Mac based. Looking around, I see more and more Macs in coffee shops all the time. Certainly this is fueled by the iPod/iPhone, but its unquestionable that Apple has an interest in the computer market, and they are positioned better than EVER to start taking a good share of it.
 
Dxmetal said:
You only get to choose one super expensive "PRO LEVEL" Quadro GPU card for the Mac Pro. Do you know how many different Quadro GPU that are available for a more decent price than the Apple priced $2850 Quadro FX5600 ??

Not to mention, you only get a choice of either the ATI 2600 or GeFOrce 8800 if you dont have $2850 for the Quadro. There are tons of options on GPU for a win machine. Not to mention the opportunity to upgrade your GPU later on.

Apple is a "closed system", there is nothing good in the long run on a closed system.
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I'm sorry, but you don't have to buy directly from Apple for your hardware. This is where the misconception begins, and, the mis-information only spreads further because people just don't understand.

A GeForce 8800 in just about EVERY flavor is more than anyone on these boards needs. In fact, I'd wager a 7 Series card. And you DON'T have to get ANY of those from Apple as it's now pretty much a plug and play application thanks to Leopard and the Intel Shift.

Just as well, please remember that Apple Hardware is MORE than Desktop. The Desktop version of an Apple is the iMac. Anything more is Server Power. You're talking multiple video card interfaces at nearly Max Speed and along with that a Server Board capable of housing and running (with incredible efficiency) dual quad core processors.

That's what I mean. Has nothing to do with Hacks.

You could order a PCi-E Graphics Card on New Egg and slap it into a Mac Pro running Leopard and quite possibly Tiger with no issue. The Video Card complaint is now moot concerning Apple Hardware.
 
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Closed system has downsides and upsides, and there ARE good things from a closed system in the long run, in fact, closed system it what makes some of Apple's products as strong as they are! Superb compatibility and flow between products, hardware, software... the basis of "it just works" - and in fact, the market is starting to move that way... which is a huge shift from what it has been in the past.

At first, open platform was they way to get prices down and software developed, hardware into the hands of consumers. Today, computers are integral part of life, and the incredible amount of hardware/software can create headaches and numerous problems. Many consumers - and even pros - are becoming very willing to pay more for something that "just works"
 
I dont use Apple Logic but I heard a lot of pros are extremely disappointed on how Apple treated the new Logic 7.
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Well, I do, Apple is up to Logic 8 (Pro and Express). They overhauled the interface to make it very streamlined and user friendly and Mac like (7 and 6 were still based in Logic's older look), to a lot of rave reviews. Some users of older systems (I suspect non-Intel, but don't have any stats) had troubles with Logic 8 that they did not have with 7, but most people, like yours truly, haven't had a single problem and the program runs beautifully. Apple also updates their pro-app support fairly frequently.

As to the rumors of Apple buying Adobe, I don't see it happening, it lacks logic to me (excuse the pun).
 
How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong from March 2008 Wired Magazine.

excerpt .....

"Google and Apple may have a friendly relationship — Google CEO Eric Schmidt sits on Apple's board, after all — but by Google's definition, Apple is irredeemably evil, behaving more like an old-fashioned industrial titan than a different-thinking business of the future.

Likewise, Robert Sutton's 2007 book, The No Asshole Rule, spoke out against workplace tyrants but made an exception for Jobs: "He inspires astounding effort and creativity from his people," Sutton wrote. A Silicon Valley insider once told Sutton that he had seen Jobs demean many people and make some of them cry. But, the insider added, "He was almost always right."
"Steve proves that it's OK to be an asshole," says Guy Kawasaki, Apple's former chief evangelist.

Even Microsoft has begun to embrace the movement toward Web-based applications, software that runs on any platform.
Not Apple. Want to hear your iTunes songs on the go? You're locked into playing them on your iPod. Want to run OS X? Buy a Mac. Want to play movies from your iPod on your TV? You've got to buy a special Apple-branded connector ($49). Only one wireless carrier would give Jobs free rein to design software and features for his handset, which is why anyone who wants an iPhone must sign up for service with AT&T.

The music and film industries, in particular, worry that Jobs has become a gatekeeper for all digital content. Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music, has accused iTunes of leaving labels powerless to negotiate with it. (Ironically, it was the labels themselves that insisted on the DRM that confines iTunes purchases to the iPod, and that they now protest.) "Apple has destroyed the music business," NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker told an audience at Syracuse University. "If we don't take control on the video side, [they'll] do the same." At a media business conference held during the early days of the Hollywood writers' strike, Michael Eisner argued that Apple was the union's real enemy: "[The studios] make deals with Steve Jobs, who takes them to the cleaners. They make all these kinds of things, and who's making money? Apple!"
Meanwhile, Jobs' insistence on the sanctity of his machines has affronted some of his biggest fans. In September, Apple released its first upgrade to the iPhone operating system. But the new software had a pernicious side effect: It would brick, or disable, many phones, especially those containing unapproved applications.2 The blogosphere erupted in protest; gadget blog Gizmodo even wrote a new review of the iPhone, reranking it a "don't buy."

Read the entire article here for free


and this week's business week magazine cover story "The Mac In the gray flannel suit" discussing on how more businesses are dumping the PC and going to the Mac. Read It Here For Free

Excerpt ...

"Soon after Michele Goins became chief information officer at Juniper Networks (JNPR) in February, she decided to respond to the growing chorus of Mac lovers among the networking company's 6,100 employees. For years, many had used Apple's (AAPL) computers at home and clamored for them in the office as well. So she launched a test, letting 600 Juniper staffers use Macs instead of the standard-issue PCs that run Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows operating system. As long as the extra support costs aren't too high, she plans to open the floodgates. "If we opened it up today, I think 25% of our employees would choose Macs," she says.

Funny thing is, she has never received a single sales call from Apple. While thousands of other companies scratch and claw for the tiniest sliver of the corporate computing market, Apple treats this vast market with utter indifference.

In the March quarter, Mac sales blew away all forecasts, soaring 51% over the previous year, or more than three times the rate for the personal-computer industry. Throw in the iPod and iPhone, and Apple's total sales have surged from $5.2 billion in fiscal 2002 to $24 billion last year. Its share price has risen 2,300% over the past five years, giving the company a market capitalization, at $154 billion, that tops those of tech giants Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL), and Intel (INTC).

Millions of consumers are seeing the Mac in a new light. Once an object of devotion for students and artists, the Mac is becoming the first choice of many. Surging demand for the machines led Apple to predict revenues will rise 33% in the second quarter, to $7.2 billion, even in the face of an economic slowdown.

What's less obvious is that the enthusiasm is starting to spill over into the corporate market. It's a people's revolution, of sorts, with workers increasingly pressing their employers to let them use Macs in the office. In a survey of 250 diverse companies that has yet to be released, the market research firm Yankee Group found that 87% now have at least some Apple computers in their offices, up from 48% two years ago.

Apple's culture is another challenge. Like Jobs, the Cupertino (Calif.) company is secretive and solitary. Yet corporate customers need cooperation. For example, most CIOs insist on knowing how a particular product is going to evolve in years to come. Yet Apple won't share that information, except with a handful of need-to-know partners. Instead, Jobs tells corporate buyers about new products the same way he tells the general public—with dramatic unveilings, often at the annual Macworld convention."
 
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