Ovum to Adobe, 'turn the tables' on Apple

Gordon Peters
Friday, 02 July 2010 00:29

IT Industry - Market

Ovum has brought out a new report claiming that Adobe should cut its losses with Apple and target its flagship Flash Player at telecoms carriers.

loadposition peter}According to Ovum, it is time for Adobe to 'turn the tables' by courting new sponsors of its technology in the shape of telecoms operators, in the wake of the spat over Apple's refusal to support the Adobe Flash technology on its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices.

Ovum's principal analyst and report author, Tony Cripps says that Adobe and telecoms carriers are 'faced with similar threats and share similar goals in relation to value-added applications and content,' and he goes on to suggest that carriers should therefore 'seek an industry-wide partnership with Adobe to use Flash as the basis of their own multi-screen device, development, delivery, and distribution systems.'

Cripps also suggests that Ovum both sides could work together to create what he calls a 'developer ecosystem' around connected devices that would compete with, and even outdo its rivals in terms of developer and user experience and multi-screen reach.

'The reality is that in the new multi-screen world, Apple and Adobe are ultimately competing for the support of the same finite pool of application and content developers. If Adobe is to continue growing the opportunity for Flash and its ability to pull through sales of its developer tools, it needs to find new ways to leverage its existing developer goodwill. Doing so would help maximise opportunities for success in an environment where heavily vertically-integrated offerings from vendors such as Apple are beginning to lead developer thinking through force of will and market dominance.'

Cripps added that 'clearly, if Flash is to become a preferred technology around which carriers can build their applications and content strategies - while retaining or increasing its own relevance to developers - it will not just happen by itself. There needs to be a will in both directions to drive this idea forward. However, we are convinced there is merit in the idea and that it should be pursued.'