Adobe Systems Wednesday is expected to disclose plans for 750 job cuts, cutting its investment in enterprise software and a halt to mobile Flash browser development.
The job cuts and reduced enterprise software development were detailed in press releases Adobe issued late Tuesday. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9221650/Adobe_to_reduce_enterprise_software_investment
Adobe reportedly sent an email to its developer partners yesterday announcing that the company "will no longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version or device configurations."
Adobe officials could not be reached to confirm that email, but did disclose in a press release Tuesday that it will be "shifting resources to support even greater investment in HTML5," a Flash alternative. The company also said it would be "focusing Flash resources on delivering the most advanced PC web experiences."
Some analysts judged the move away from Flash on mobile as a vindication of Steve Jobs' criticism of the technology Flash as a drain on batteries and other mobile computing resources.
Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg tweeted early Wednesday: "I think we've pretty much removed 'lack' of Flash as a negative from the iOS debate."
Many Android developers have viewed mobile Flash as important to the creation of gaming and other apps, making Adobe's move away from mobile Flash a major blow to them.
The Adobe announcements should be more fully explained by Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen and other company officials in a full-day meeting with financial analysts on Wednesday.
With the news, Adobe's stock price plunged by 10% to $27.21 at 9:30 a.m. EST today.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen , or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed . His e-mail address is mhamblen@computerworld.com .
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