Adobe stocks slammed, management criticized after killing mobile Flash development

posted by Scott H. / Nov 10, 2011, 10:30 AM

Adobe stocks slammed, management criticized after killing mobile Flash development

Adobe has received blunt criticism from a former executive and seen its market cap drop 8% after they announced the end of development of the mobile version of Flash Player. While much of the furor since the announcement has centered on Apple’s choice to forgo Flash – and Android and RIM’s choice to embrace it – these new revelations suggest that Adobe simply failed to realize the importance of touchscreen smartphones in time.

Carlos Icaza, a former engineer and manager of Flash, says he warned Adobe about the need for a touchscreen version of Flash in 2007 after the iPhone launched, but Adobe chose to ignore the smartphone market and instead optimize a version of Flash for feature phones, which were more common at the time.

"Adobe said that smartphones were going to be a niche," Icaza said.

As a result it would be three years before Adobe launched a touchscreen-optimized version of Flash for mobile devices, and by then Apple had already decided to bar the format from their mobile devices. This was extended to the iPad in 2010, and so Flash content could not be accessed on two of the most important product categories for web consumption.

Flash for mobile has never been given stellar reviews; even today, four years after the iPhone launched and more than a year after Adobe got a version of Flash for Android out the door, the product continues to get mediocre reviews at best.

Adobe has signaled the shift to HTML 5 creation for some time, but the final coup de grâce to mobile FLash was still too abrupt for investors, who are concerned about the uncertainty the move creates for developers that utilize Adobe products. If they decide that other tools are more stable, or that Adobe is no longer an industry leader when it comes to HTML 5, the demand for Adobe’s content creation software could decline sharply.

If that happens, the stock will drop a lot more than 8%.

Source: ReadWriteWeb via Slash Gear

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37 Comments

1. rendHELL

Posts: 304; Member since: Nov 09, 2011

oh no... android crying in the pic... T_T

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 10:33 AM 7

6. Whateverman

Posts: 3295; Member since: May 17, 2009

Are we reading the same article? No one is crying, if anything it shows how important Flash still can be.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:16 AM 0

9. Whateverman

Posts: 3295; Member since: May 17, 2009

Sorry, replayed to the wrong comment.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:19 AM 0

26. rendHELL

Posts: 304; Member since: Nov 09, 2011

hahahah XD replayed? replied right?? XD

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 1:32 PM 1

30. Whateverman

Posts: 3295; Member since: May 17, 2009

I know right!? You would think I'd proofread before hitting "Post Comment", but I trust my device and my typing so much that I never do. I'll start though. Sorry.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 2:29 PM 1

2. ryq24

Posts: 874; Member since: Oct 17, 2011

android will buy it.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 10:52 AM 6

3. rendHELL

Posts: 304; Member since: Nov 09, 2011

hopefully they will...

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 10:56 AM 6

4. The_Miz

Posts: 1496; Member since: Apr 06, 2011

I'm not buying it since flash is DEAD and html5 is the newer and more secure standard.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 10:59 AM 4

11. AKm007

Posts: 108; Member since: Sep 06, 2011

You're becoming a bigger and bigger troll. When I first ventured here, I thought you were an apple fanatic but normal all the same. Now you just look like a one trick pony. Just because apple refuses to use flash doesn't mean that its not useful.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:21 AM 8

15. The_Miz

Posts: 1496; Member since: Apr 06, 2011

Right, because liking one thing over another makes one a troll. It's not like flash didn't have problems.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:49 AM 2

36. choupino

Posts: 69; Member since: May 28, 2011

The FLASH problems didn't extend to the end users the way you speak. It actually gave us the freedom to view web content that was on the web. I owned the first 3 iPhones and clearly was constantly annoyed by the littleBlue boxes with the question marks in them. Dude... Now you really seem stupidER... We understand that you LOVE Apple. However, you have as of late been reducing yourself to a Joke. I LOVE Android but can also freely complain about certain known issues and inefficiencies with the OS. Now I find you on every review page like some kind of Apple Lobbyist. Where is your objectivity???? I guess it's up your A$$, right next to the half eaten Apple.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 9:07 PM 2

14. SuperAndroidEvo

Posts: 4888; Member since: Apr 15, 2011

Adobe is doing the right thing, HTML5 is the future. They did say they were going to still do one more update to Flash & add the Stage 3D hardware-accelerated rendering. So I am cool with that, because HTML5 is STILL not the mainstream so until then, I hope Adobe makes real headway with HTML5. I just hope this decision doesn\'t hurt their other endeavors, as being predicted on this article.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:49 AM 3

18. remixfa

Posts: 14605; Member since: Dec 19, 2008

miz.. when did flash die exactly? Its still the most widely used format.. its still on the bulk of smartphones.. and its still supported by Adobe for stability issues n bug fixes. Its just not getting new features. Big woop. works great for me as is. they dont need 750 programmers to do basic tech support. Its going to be near a decade before html5 takes over and flash support officially stops. you have fun saying "flash is dead" and looking at all those missing pieces in your mobile browser, while i continue to use this "dead" flash in all its glory.. yesterday.. today.. and for the next few years.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 12:16 PM 5

5. gallitoking

Posts: 4721; Member since: May 17, 2011

Android will not buy flash... they are better off without it...

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:10 AM 1

7. 530gemini

Posts: 2198; Member since: Sep 09, 2010

I will be amused to read in-denial comments by android fanboys. Lol. ....And now in android fanboys' world. Flash works perfectly well on android devices and is getting great reviews, and that Adobe will continue to develop it to even improve its already perfect implementation. Bwahahahahahaha.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:17 AM 1

13. Whateverman

Posts: 3295; Member since: May 17, 2009

I still don\'t get why this is so important to you. Why does any critisim of Flash give you such a chubby? If anything, this article says how important Flash is, and that it\\\'s NOT dead.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:46 AM 6

16. SuperAndroidEvo

Posts: 4888; Member since: Apr 15, 2011

If Flash was on the iPhone, 530gemini wouldn\'t have said what he did. Sounds more like envy than anything else! Bwahahahahahaha. ^^ Really?!? 530gemini Halloween passed a week & a half ago! You sound like an evil scientist or something!

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:57 AM 8

21. tacohunter

Posts: 408; Member since: Nov 06, 2011

It\'s his opinion, ok. Just accept the fact: people have different opinions about things.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 12:20 PM 1

23. SuperAndroidEvo

Posts: 4888; Member since: Apr 15, 2011

tacohunter, he can have an opinion. That is fine & dandy but to call out the Android fanboys out like he did is just plain instigation & nothing more. His opinion is one thing, & instigation is another. Now this is my opinion tacohunter, ok. Just accept the fact that he was instigating & nothing more.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 12:32 PM 3

27. EclipseGSX

Posts: 1770; Member since: Oct 18, 2011

i think gemini is actually a girl and you should know by now IT always ends a comment with HAHAHAHAHAH or :)

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 1:48 PM 2

19. remixfa

Posts: 14605; Member since: Dec 19, 2008

denial of what exactly? flash is not even at its peak of use. Every android sold is another flash capable device.. thats not stopping anytime soon. So as android grows, so does flash's install base. Read my comment above. next time think things through before trying to start a flame war over something so silly while being so wrong.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 12:18 PM 3

8. jove39

Posts: 2140; Member since: Oct 18, 2011

oops...just another example of \"shoot yourself in the foot\".

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:18 AM 0

10. AKm007

Posts: 108; Member since: Sep 06, 2011

Hasn't phonearena seen that the SGS2 runs flash like a champ. It doesn't lag ever, even with a 1080p flash video. This is stupid. And gallito, how are they better off without it?

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 11:19 AM 5

17. gallitoking

Posts: 4721; Member since: May 17, 2011

ok SGSII may be the only cellphone that can run flash... unfortunately.. not everyone has that phone.... we are better . .please read on how unsecure for your device is flash.. and what it does to your phone... it looks pretty. but not all that is pretty... is good...

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 12:01 PM 1

20. remixfa

Posts: 14605; Member since: Dec 19, 2008

my SGS1 runs flash flawlessly.. i can even p2z on the page while it runs without an issue. what is your point? i love how you iOS users come on n try to bash something you have absolutely no experience with... or your experience is old, out dated, and irrelevant to the current situation... lol

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 12:19 PM 1

24. tacohunter

Posts: 408; Member since: Nov 06, 2011

ios user\'s no experience with flash? Mhh First there are ios third party apps browsers that do support flash. Skyfire, etc. There are people that used android devices with flash who came to ios. saying flash on a smartphone on your Sgs1 is perfect? Or just runs flawlessly. Well guess what. I can say the same thing for my iPad. There\'s only one site (i noticed) that Is flash only, but then I\'ll watch in on pc anyway.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 12:33 PM 2

25. remixfa

Posts: 14605; Member since: Dec 19, 2008

skyfire doesnt run flash directly, it runs it through their servers and then back through skyfire as html5. its a work around, but its not direct flash. yea, sorry but ios doesnt have flash, so i dont know exactly what you are arguing against. Yes, on MY smartphone, flash runs perfect. i havent had a single issue with flash for probably the last 3 updates. I also have a nice android phone with lots of power tucked into that hummingbird chip. moral of the story, dont buy cheap phones. u can say whatever u want, that doesnt mean your ipad plays flash. what you have noticed vs the entirity of the web are 2 different things. a person looks at less than 0.000001% of the web on a normal basis.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 1:18 PM 0

32. tacohunter

Posts: 408; Member since: Nov 06, 2011

It\'s one of the alternatives. And rly for most sites i don\'t need flash.

posted on Nov 10, 2011, 2:50 PM 0

33. gallitoking

Posts: 4721; Member since: May 17, 2011

@remix... look i am speaking out of experience.. remember I had an Android phone once... but anyhow.. if you are the lucky one that run flash flawless,.. then dont worry about...that was for the people that had issues with flash....