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Adobe's market cap is around $18 billion. Apple's is around $235 billion with $40 billion in cash on hand. There must be a few good reasons, but I'd really like

Adobe's market cap is around $18 billion. Apple's is around $235 billion with $40 billion in cash on hand. There must be a few good reasons, but I'd really like to know why Apple hasn't bought Adobe yet.

allenp 17y ago
I don't think there is much incentive for them, Adobe is kind of the wrong fit for a company that is trying to become your one-stop-shop for media consumption. Edit: wording;
- jeremymims 17y ago
  That may be true, but Apple's most fiercely loyal customers are the content creators. So in this sense, Apple and Adobe serve much of the same marketplace. Creative professionals who use Macs also use Adobe products. And if we consider media consumption, the standard on the web at the moment is Flash. So for a company who's trying to be a one-stop-shop for media consumption, this type of acquisition probably would make a lot of sense. On the flip-side, I think the culture argument is probably the most compelling. Adobe products don't feel like Apple products. And for a company that makes its money by selling powerful software to creative people, their tools don't seem all that well designed.
mortenjorck 17y ago
The cultures are simply too different. Adobe is a feature company; Apple is a UX company.
cakesy 17y ago
You don't need a reason why they haven't bought Apple yet, you need a good reason for them to buy Apple? I can't think of an obvious reason for them to do that?
tvon 17y ago
What if Google bought Adobe and turned Flash into a standards body approved open spec (as opposed to an Adobe run open spec, which I believe it is now)?
vetinari 17y ago
They haven't bought them, because your numbers are wrong. Apple's entire current assets are 33 bilion; their cash & equivalent is 7,5 bilion. In other words, you are almost order of magnitude off.
- fh 17y ago
  Do you have a source? Because 40 billion is the number I've seen quoted most often, for example here: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2010/01/almost_40_billi.html http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/a...
  - vetinari 17y ago
    Apple's Balance sheet: http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/FinancialIndustrial.jsp?tkr=AAPl&period=qtr http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/Finan... or http://www.google.com/finance?fstype=ii&q=nasdaq:aapl http://www.google.com/finance?fstype=ii&q=nasdaq:aapl (click on Balance Sheet tab, cannot link directly). The figures I quoted were for 2009/12. There are now for 2010/03, with cash & equivalent 10 bil and current assets 32 bil. Total assets are 57 bil, current liabilities 12, total liabilities 17. Equity is 39.3 bil, but equity is not the same as "cash in the bank". Apple is well-managed company on the financial side, but let's not get ahead of ourselves and apply reality distortion field to business side too.

allenp 17y ago

I don't think there is much incentive for them, Adobe is kind of the wrong fit for a company that is trying to become your one-stop-shop for media consumption. Edit: wording;

jeremymims 17y ago
That may be true, but Apple's most fiercely loyal customers are the content creators. So in this sense, Apple and Adobe serve much of the same marketplace. Creative professionals who use Macs also use Adobe products. And if we consider media consumption, the standard on the web at the moment is Flash. So for a company who's trying to be a one-stop-shop for media consumption, this type of acquisition probably would make a lot of sense. On the flip-side, I think the culture argument is probably the most compelling. Adobe products don't feel like Apple products. And for a company that makes its money by selling powerful software to creative people, their tools don't seem all that well designed.

mortenjorck 17y ago

The cultures are simply too different. Adobe is a feature company; Apple is a UX company.

cakesy 17y ago

You don't need a reason why they haven't bought Apple yet, you need a good reason for them to buy Apple? I can't think of an obvious reason for them to do that?

tvon 17y ago

What if Google bought Adobe and turned Flash into a standards body approved open spec (as opposed to an Adobe run open spec, which I believe it is now)?

vetinari 17y ago

They haven't bought them, because your numbers are wrong. Apple's entire current assets are 33 bilion; their cash & equivalent is 7,5 bilion. In other words, you are almost order of magnitude off.

fh 17y ago
Do you have a source? Because 40 billion is the number I've seen quoted most often, for example here: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2010/01/almost_40_billi.html http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/a...
- vetinari 17y ago
  Apple's Balance sheet: http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/FinancialIndustrial.jsp?tkr=AAPl&period=qtr http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/Finan... or http://www.google.com/finance?fstype=ii&q=nasdaq:aapl http://www.google.com/finance?fstype=ii&q=nasdaq:aapl (click on Balance Sheet tab, cannot link directly). The figures I quoted were for 2009/12. There are now for 2010/03, with cash & equivalent 10 bil and current assets 32 bil. Total assets are 57 bil, current liabilities 12, total liabilities 17. Equity is 39.3 bil, but equity is not the same as "cash in the bank". Apple is well-managed company on the financial side, but let's not get ahead of ourselves and apply reality distortion field to business side too.