Mark my words… Avid will make a desperate announcement at this year's NAB (if not sooner). Their 'we're focussing on the pro market' strategy is too little and too late. The pros they want to keep are moving on in records numbers (let alone dwindling).
My favorite quote from a Boston Globe Article
"To fight back against Apple and Adobe, Avid spent more than $600 million buying two companies in 2004 and 2005 that sold audio and video editing products aimed at consumers. Instead, Avid wound up selling its consumer businesses last year for just $17 million."
Sounds a little desperate to me…..
A few "things" to keep in mind
- The company has reported a net loss each year since 2006, from $198 million in 2008 to nearly $21 million in 2011.
- Avid indefinitely delayed reporting its 2012 earnings and refuses to say when they will (a HUGE no no for a publicly traded company)
- Stock prices are in a tail spin.
Avid has cut out all of the bundled software like Boris, leading you to essentially have to install Adobe's suite.I'm hearing conflicting reports on this one… looking into. Latest info is that Boris Continuum Complete was only product pulled.- I can tell you a WHOLE lot of broadcast stations are switching to Adobe Premiere Pro.
- Apple seems to actually be trying to woo back it's "pro" market as well. Both Apple and Adobe are rapidly starving Avid to death.
Articles you need to read
- Avid Postpones its Fourth Quarter Earnings Release
- Avid's official third quarter 2012 presentation (14% loss year to year)
- Greenfield Out as Avid CEO, Replaced by Louis Hernandez
- Avid CEO Switch: Greenfield Out, Hernandez In
- New Avid CEO Louis Hernandez Posts An Introductory Message To The Avid Community
- Will Accounting Woes at Avid Spark Big Changes or an Acquisition?
If you run your shops on Avid... it's time to start thinking about a transition strategy.
I'd like to be wrong… but encourage my fellow pros to start thinking critically if they run their businesses based on Avid workflows.