Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen knows what other software companies have not known?
Adobe's executive is leading his company deeper than growing slow-growing enterprise software market. When the price of other desktop software is thousands of foot, Adobe's products are still making money. In fact, Adobe is the most profitable quarter in history last year. So far, Bruce Chizen maintains friendly relations with your company and Microsoft, and hits this world's largest software manufacturer in the electronic document market.
Of course, there are still a few dark clouds on the horizon of Adobe. One day, Microsoft will adjust it. ADOBE's most popular products are facing competition from open source communities. I believe that more competitors will follow.
However, Chizen has its own plan from Adobe founder John Warnock in John Warnock. Recently, he accepted an interview with the CNET news website, and the content involved in industry integration and Linux.
Q: Many people have hoped that software can be free or very cheap. How can you avoid this trend, do you think this trend will continue?
A: I have a lot of questions that I have noteded from Adobe, and the reality is that there are many products in the open source community, which are already competing with Photoshop, Illustrator, PostScript. However, users are still willing to pay for innovation, quality assurance products, I think this is the driving force for our company to continue to develop, which is different from our competitors. Obviously, the software industry is being integrated, and Adobe does not have to live well, this is quite good.
Sometimes, have you ever thought that independent software companies are still there for a few years?
We hope.
Can you talk about the change of software use authorization mode? How do you think about software, service, or on demand software? What trends are affecting Adobe?
Yes it is. With the enhancement of broadband ability, this change is difficult to avoid. According to the current speed, the power of the desktop is far greater than the power you get through the host or broadband connection. In fact, our Adobe.com website has a service called "Creating PDF", people can upload their documents, we can convert these files into PDF file formats. These services are very good because it is very simple, and there is no need to have a lot of bandwidth. Three years, four years, or five years later, the software industry will change, and you will see more applications based on remote host form.
Adobe has decided to increase the amount of weight in the corporate market. Acrobat and PDF are an important part of this plan. Can you talk to me this way of upgrading progress?
In the corporate market, we have two ways to promote PDF mode. First, continue to consolidate the status of the desktop market with Acrobat, the second way is to use our server products to perform PDF promotion.
In order to cater to the needs of the big company, how do you transform Adobe's development ideas? Isn't this a huge change?
It is a transformation. At first, this sound is quite strange, but I have examined the company like Honda. Their engine is quite good, there is a fairly excellent manufacturing process. This is their core competitiveness, which starts from a production tool, slowly develops into a small motorcycle company, motorcycle company, small car company, large car manufacturer, and finally become a luxury business manufacturer. Now, Honda produces jet engines, and they are also working with General Electric to make parts for small private aircraft. Adobe is similar. We started from a PostScript Providers and Printing Systems, and slowly became a professional digital image provider, and now we have begun to provide programs for enterprises. We need to adjust your development path, like product type, contract mode financial data, cooperative relationship, marketing method, and so on. But frankly, this is nothing different from the transition we have experienced.
How do you see your core competitiveness?
That is, it is possible to help people communicate better, in other words, it is possible to make information more useful, more reliable, and safer. Here, the presentation of information is important.
Microsoft once determined to enter the electronic document market in numerous times, with Adobe to join. When Microsoft introduces products such as InfoPath, you feel the pressure of competition?
I do not think so. At least, we didn't hear how many products were there now. We have not heard how successful products in Microsoft, such as InfoPath, we think it does not meet the idea.
We have set a 10-year goal, strive to make PDF a world standard, and this file format changes many organization's workflows. If you look at the reality, you will find that government organizations in many countries are encouraged to use PDF. It is a standard of facts. Therefore, I am very difficult to believe that Microsoft's products will replace our products. However, they are Microsoft, they have 4 billion dollars in their hands.
They have the advantage of the platform, right?
They are the advantage of the platform. They also have monopoly, the Ministry of Justice has said this. However, you know that we are not vegetarian.
We talked about the competitors, Apple? Do you treat Apple as a competitor? PARTNER?
Two two of them are partners and competitors. They are all important partners, 25% of our business come from Apple users. This part of the user is quite loyal to Adobe, they are all very important customers. On the other hand, these people are also very important to Apple. Therefore, we have the common interests of cooperation, I think our cooperation is quite good. If you look at which software company installed the OS X operating system, you will find Adobe. We have done a lot of work for this platform, perhaps, we are the largest independent software manufacturers (ISV) of Apple platform. Of course, we have two competition in some areas, and the degree is quite deep.
Are you from the business of Apple users to keep quite stable?
History, this part of the business has fallen. The biggest reason is that we have increased the efforts of the Acrobat and the corporate business market, and these markets are basically Windows world.
What is the situation in the Linux market? We have reported over the fall of the fall, Adobe hired a Linux market development, recently, you announced that a Linux version of Acrobat Reader will be launched. This is just your tasting move? Still, the demand from the Linux market is quite big? Yes, first of all, we are basically dealing with Linux for server software products for business markets. In other words, this is the Linux desktop. We are trying to try this market. We really listen to our customers. We are observing the market, we are working hard. Nowadays, and other vertical markets are different from emerging markets, companies involved in the Linux desktop market are still very small. Therefore, we are paying attention to our user's opinion, we want to know when users have such intentions.
In the Linux desktop market, which products will appear first? Photoshop? Or other products?
We are paying attention to user needs and see which software they need. If you are government agencies, banks, or insurance companies, etc. If your employee, customer or potential customers are using Linux desktop software, you will ensure your file format and their file formats.
Is this a clear plan?
Yes it is. Linux has taken time, there is still a lot of people who are Apple's users, they are comparable to their operating systems. Therefore, there is no special reason to let them change the system. The situation of emerging markets is slightly different, like China and India, but frankly, these markets are quite small in our business market share, because these markets have pirated issues. (Editor Zhang Linan)
