Economic downturn hits Adobe

It appears no one is immune to the global economic distress, not even the software stalwart Adobe Systems. The company announced last week that it is cutting 600 jobs, or about 8 percent of its staff, and lowering its sales outlook for the next two quarters. Adobe makes the popular Photoshop, Flash and Acrobat software.

CEO Shantanu Narayen said in a statement that weak demand for Adobe's Creative Suite 4 software, that started shipping in October, is causing the sales shortfall. Creative Suite, which includes Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator software, is aimed at graphics professionals, many of whom work at hard hit magazines, ad agencies and other media houses.

Business Week reports that Trip Chowdhry, an analyst at Global Equities Research, has another theory for the lack of enthusiasm for the new product. He wrote in a Dec. 3 research note that 2007's Creative Suite 3 was Adobe's first version of that product written expressly for Intel-based Macs, which means Apple-happy designers already got the technology they wanted last time around.

For more on Adobe:
- see this BusinessWeek.com article

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