South Africa Edition 2

THE MARKET
Founded in December 1982 by John Warnock
and Charles Geschke, who shared a vision for
publishing and graphic arts that would forever
change how people create and engage with
information. Now one of the world’s largest
software companies - generating annual revenues
exceeding R19 billion (in 2006) - Adobe
provides complete and innovative solutions for
its customers.
Headquartered in San Jose, California, Adobe
has been establishing a fast-growing network in
Africa over the last few years. South African
customers can access products and solutions
through a dedicated network of authorised
distributors, resellers and training partners and a
regional office. Enterprise and education clients
deal with a dedicated distributor and value-added
resellers (VARs).
Today, Adobe’s powerful technology platform,
built around Adobe PDF and Flash technology,
greatly enhances how people create, manage,
deliver, and engage with information. Free Adobe
Reader® and Flash Player software—already
deployed on hundreds of millions of computers,
mobile phones and smart devices worldwide—
enable people anywhere to engage, collaborate,
and act on information and content, through the
web, enterprise applications, online meetings,
and digital documents.
Large enterprises and governments worldwide
are among Adobe’s fastest-growing customer
segments. Adobe Creative Suite 3 is becoming
the platform for the future of design and
publishing. The suite combines the best available
digital imaging, vector graphics, web publishing,
page layout and PDF creation software, as well as
tools for video and mobile authoring.
Adobe is increasingly integrating services
into its creative professional products, with
Adobe Stock Photos, localised professional
Photographer directories and Expert Support
offerings.
Adobe’s flagship Photoshop software - as
well as comprehensive professional digital video
platform for film, broadcast, Internet and DVD
- helps professionals and hobbyists edit, manage
and share images and video with the highest
quality results. The company is also a leader
in digital video and high-definition (HD) with
its Adobe Production Premium an integrated
solution for professional videographers and
filmmakers.
The January 2007 Adobe Systems headcount
was 6,427 employees, about 40 percent of whom
work in San Jose, California. Adobe also has
major development operations in Seattle and San
Francisco, India and Canada.
Adobe offers its products through three
focused distributors, an Educational Licensing
Centre and an Enterprise Licensing Centre, which
work with reseller partners and retail outlets to
bring product to the South African market.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Adobe has consistently won awards, showing it is
indeed a Superbrand. These industry, trade, and
customer awards have included:
• Adobe Photoshop: 2005 Superior Technology
Award Recipient (STAR) by TV Technology
Magazine
• Adobe InDesign: 2005 Webby Award from
The International Academy of Digital Arts
and Sciences
• Adobe Creative Suite 2: voted 2004 Product
of the Year by MacNet
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0: 2004 Best of
What’s New by Popular Science
• Since 2001, Fortune magazine has ranked
Adobe as an outstanding place to work. Adobe
was rated the fifth-best American company
to work for in 2003 and sixth-best in 2004.
It was ranked 31st in the 2007 Fortune Best
Companies to Work For list.
HISTORY
Co-chairmen Geschke and Warnock, having
founded the company in 1982, were awarded
their first Original Equipment Manufacturer
(OEM) contract the following year. By 1986,
Adobe was posting an annual revenue of US$16
million. In the same year the Adobe Type Library
was launched, followed by Adobe Illustrator in
1987. 1988 saw revenue reach US$83 million
and the headcount hit 291.
In the mid-1980s, soon after introducing
PostScript, Adobe entered the consumer software
market with Adobe Illustrator, a vector-based
drawing program for the Apple Macintosh.
1989 saw the launch of Adobe Photoshop
for the Macintosh. While Photoshop 1.0 had
competitors, it was extremely stable and wellfeatured.
Adobe had the resources to promote
it and market domination came quickly. Adobe
Acrobat was launched in 1993, closely followed
by PageMaker and After Effects in 1994.
Between 1998 and 2005, the company
launched 28 new products, packages or
upgrades, continuing its lead in the creative
software market. In December 2005, Adobe
acquired its former competitor Macromedia. The
combination of the two software giants provides
customers with powerful solutions for creating,
managing and delivering gripping content and
experiences across multiple operating systems,
devices and media. Together, the two companies
meet a wider set of customer needs and have a
significantly greater opportunity to grow into new
markets, particularly in the mobile and enterprise
segments.
Adobe outlasted many of its rivals through
the 1980s and 1990s, eventually acquiring its
main competitors and continuing to improve its
applications until they became industry standards.
In 1994, Adobe took over Aldus and acquired
PageMaker and the TIFF file format; in 1995 it
acquired the long-document DTP application