14 DAY TRIAL // Adobe's Creative Suite 3 - that is due in April of 2007 - will be the first version of the creative software bundle that is fully optimized for Apple's Intel-based Macs.
PiperJaffray senior research analyst Gene Munster said that many Adobe customers are expected to buy a new Mac within two quarters of CS3's release. According to Munster, Adobe maintains a creative pro customer base of approximately 3 million users. With 10 percent having upgraded to a new Mac within the last 2 quarters, he assumes for analytical purposes that approximately 300,000 (150,000/quarter) Adobe creative pros already own Intel-based Macs.
If we assume that our forward estimates are also based on 150,000/quarter Macs that are sold to Adobe's creative pro customer base, we would come to a figure of 600k Macs sold to Adobe creative pros by the time CS3 ships in April of 2007. This leaves us with 2.4 million Adobe creative pro customers that are yet to move to a new Mac. If 24 percent of these customers upgrades to a new Mac within the first 2 quarters following CS3 release (Jun-07 & Sep-07 quarters), we can expect 288,000 Macs sold to Adobe creative pros in each of those 2 quarters
Based on Munter's report, AppleInsider predicts that the release of Adobe's Creative Suite 3.0 professional software package next year will be a catalyst for new sales of Apple Computer's Intel-based Macintosh computers.
As the new Intel-based Macs offer greatly increased performance, it will be no surprise if many professionals in the graphics department upgrade their workstations once Adobe releases CS3. An Intel-based Mac, along with a version of the Creation Suite fully optimized for this kind of Macs, will represent a "beast" that many professionals need to help them in their work.
With this in mind, it is the sensible thing to say that this release from Adobe will automatically increase Mac sales as there are few other alternatives for a high-end user and none can really rise to Apple's standards.
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