Adobe launches new front in war with Apple
Adobe announced details of a ‘public beta’ of its audio application Soundbooth in a further direct attack on the Apple digital media market. Adobe and Apple previously went head-to-head after Apple launched its photographic workflow product, Aperture. Adobe responded later with the release a similar product, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, as a ‘public beta’.
The release of Soundbooth confirms that the two companies are on collision course in the media space, with further confirmation from Adobe’s Hart Shafer, Senior product manager for Adobe Audio products.
According to MacWorld, Shafer is quoted as saying that “I think they [Apple] are probably going after the same market, however, I think one of the key differences is that SoundTrack Pro is built for audio people — we think that we have a more focused product for the creative professional market.”
Soundbooth is being developed for Windows and Intel-based Macs only — it will not work with PowerPC-based systems, according to Adobe.
It is clear that both Adobe and Apple are on collision course in the creative media market whether they’re prepared to publicly acknowledge it or not.
Whilst both companies previously complimented and relied on each other, it is now clear that they are moving aggressively into the same territory. The overlap of product areas is increasing rapidly with Apple spending its cash piles to acquire companies in the creative media space. Adobe is currently on the back foot, being forced to release public betas of products to stay in the game.
Where the two companies have competed directly before it has been Adobe that has suffered. The desktop video market is an example, where Adobe’s sales of its previously successful Premier video editing software collapsed after the release of Final Cut Pro by Apple. Adobe later abandoned the Mac version of Premier.
The crown jewel for Adobe is Photoshop, with Apple moving firmly into the photo manipulation market we expect that at some point shortly Apple will release a product to compete head on with Photoshop.
Download the public beta of soundbooth from here.