Who loves Apple rumors? You love Apple rumors! And this one’s a big-un. There’s some speculation around certain unnamed video pro forums that Apple is dumping its pro apps, like Final Cut Pro and Aperture, to focus more on the consumer market.
This is hardly surprising. But now the rumors saying that the deal is done, and that Apple has sold the products already, though nobody knows to whom they went.
We’ve heard rumors of an Apple press event at the end of the month. Could this be related?
In other rumors news, Britney Spears is still insane.
Apple bought Final Cut because its future in the creative industry was being controlled by the whims of Adobe and Avid. Apple has no reason to sell Final Cut or any of the Pro Apps. To do so would reduce its control over its future. In the music industry, for example, Windows was taking over until Apple bought and started developing its own music software.
Ummm…not a chance. FCP and the like are considered standards in their respective industries now. Adobe is against the wall. Apple needs to continue supporting one of their main sources of revenue, the professional graphic artists, movie producers and recording companies with their pro apps. Doesn’t make any sense for this one.
Can you quantify those statements? Based on what Apple presents to the public, it’s more than likely they gain their main source of revenue now from selling entertainment hardware and software. That’s what they market to. Iphones, Ipods, AppleTVs, Itunez, iMacs, iCrapLites, etc. When is the last time you’ve seen an ad for a Mac Pro? For FCP? For Shake (now dead)? Apple’s main source of income is NOT from “professional graphic artists, movie producers, etc”.
Hey James, you do know that Apple dropped out of NAB this year though. If it is sold, maybe the end of having to deal with Quicktime gamma issues is near.
That’s a good point, bob. I was actually going to mention the NAB aspect, but I totally forgot. Thanks.
Rubbish.
First, the rationale is wrong. Consider that many of the features of iMovie come from development in Final Cut Pro. You add the feature to Final Cut Pro and make money. Then you move it downscale into Final Cut Express and iMovie.
Second, Apple makes good money from selling software and it’s associated hardware to video professionals. I tend to doubt that they’re losing money on Final Cut Pro or Aperture.
I could maybe–maybe–see it spun off into a Filemaker-like subsidiary but I think that since much of the technology is shared with Apple’s “consumer” video and photo software, that might end up being more trouble than it’s worth.
I’ll admit, I hate making the “Apple would never do that!” prediction (I was one of those, “Apple will never go to Intel!” people), but I don’t see Apple’s gain in dropping these products.
I thought it was absurd but I thought the same thing about a rumor that Apple was switching to Intel. Thomson Grass Valley which is not widely known outside of the Broadcast world is the company that bought the Pro Apps for a est. 400 million.
“FCP and the like are considered standards in their respective industries now.”
Umm, no. FCP might own a good chunk of the prosumer market, but Avid is still the king of video editing, and ProTools rules the roost when it comes to audio post. (And oddly enough they won’t be at NAB either, which is far more shocking than that MP3 player company not showing up.)
With that recent Quicktime update incident, I know the professional video/post industry is not exactly thrilled with Apple right now. Any company that was serious about targeting professionals would have had a fix out within a day. I would not be surprised in the least if Apple sold off that software.
And now a moment of silence for all the Shake users who are once again facing an uncertain future.
Two things:
1) I hadn’t heard ProTools was skipping NAB. Now I might be skipping NAB. Thanks.
2) Awesome meta username. Welcome.
No way….
First off, to address Apple skipping NAB - Avid is also skipping it - high costs being the cited reason.
The reason why I can’t see Apple getting rid of these apps? They are the only major native professional apps that I can think of that are totally exclusive to the Mac OS. Final Cut, DVD Studio, Aperture, Shake, Soundtrack, Motion.
Yes, I realise there are things like iLife and iWork, but professionals get real work done with those pro apps that I mentioned, and Apple is smart to keep them alive and well to convince more professionals to switch to a mac because it’s the only platform that supports them.
Apple should just buy Avid.( Cheap these Days)
Dump all their Pro apps to that new “Film-Video / Media & Entertainment Division”,
Kill few Products . Bring everything exclusively to Mac OS X ( No windows anymore ). Including Softimage XSI. And Let that division run this part of the bussiness.
Hmm. A couple observations.
FCP and iMovie are both QuickTime underneath. not clear the implication of that.
Several Apple reps at their when-we-were-still-at-NAB booth have told me clearly, Apple makes software to sell computers. That one’s kind of a koan too-either they’re all too happy to dump apps or perhaps they see how FCP helps move their higher-end rigs.
What is the ratio of familyhandicams to Arri and Panavision rigs in current use? Of point-and-shoots to Leicas? Of Final Cut Studio licenses to iPods? Of iPods to iTunes downloads?
My 2 cents,
For a lot of you you wont remember when Apple was the main platform in video editing on a computer, and yes it was not running the limber FCP but Avid products. Apple made a decision to make a new motherboard that did not have enough PCI slots to plug in the custom Avid hardware. This was why Avid dumped mac an went NT at the time.
Apple who were going to make there own software seemed confident with there rather naive decision and released FCP. Weather or not Apple or Avid show up at a trade show is largely based on new products to market and the cost of exhibiting. Not to state the obvious but it costs millions of dollars to be at IBC or NAB and if you have nothing new to show then. Frankly I don’t really care if apple keeps there prosumer range going. They have always not been quite good enough for professional use and have for the lack of a better term diluted the art form of editing to a bedroom level. Oh now I hear all you DV people getting upset. Sorry I have worked in TV and film since the days of linear editing and if you take it seriously then more than likely you use AVID. I was forced to conform a film on FCP last year and it was painfull to say the least.
I digress. I was at NAB this year and have been every year for longer than I want to remember. They were not there because they had nothing to show. Apple makes Ipods and hellishly overpriced PC’s with a little apple on them. This is there core business and they make a hell of a lot of money from it. The software side is meant to sell more hardware. EG itunes sells ipods. Shake was meant to sell more macs
Funniest thing I’ve read today Otter. You must work in a bubble.
As an editor w/several platforms under his belt (including 15 years on Avid), I agree w/Darin - Otter, you my friend are living in a bubble. But then again, I see you wrote this in 08… How do you feel about FCP these days?