It's 'cos they're very, very stupid...
The reason that Adobe aren't flogging as much software as they expected is partly due to the economy, but mainly because their pricing and volume licensing arrangements SUCK!
First off, upgrading a PC or Mac from CS2 or CS3 to CS4 (Design Premium)? 600 quid a seat here in the UK. Probably around 600 dollars (I'm guessing) in the US. Nowadays, that's probably more than it will cost for a good enough PC to run the damned thing on. Meanwhile, if you're a student, you can buy the full version of CS4 DP for 250 quid.
Similarly, want a copy of CS4 Design Standard? Thousand smackers please. Or 160 quid if you're eligible for the student version. Isn't this just the equivalent of a drug dealer giving their customers the first couple of hits free or on the cheap?
But the best bit - the very, very best bit - is that I phoned Adobe the other week. Now, we're not a big outfit by any means, but I was looking at a couple of Design Premium upgrades and a couple of Design Standard licenses. OK, not a huge install base, but I would have thought it was enough to get some kind of deal (especially since it included the software upgrade option). You know what they said? Oh no, even though you've got several thousand qualifying points for our commercial volume license programme, you still wouldn't get it any cheaper. In fact, it would be cheaper just to go out and buy the retail boxed versions.
In which bizarre world does that make any kind of sense? If I do that, it will cost me more for a few Adobe upgrades and licenses than it recently cost me for half a dozen new desktops - all with a fairly passable spec, three year onsite warranties and copies of MS Office pre-installed! What the...?
Anyone know whether the Adobe stuff is the most pirated software in the world? If it is, now you know why. As for us, we're sticking with the licenses/versions we've already got and the folks who were going to get the new copies will just have to live without for now - I'm not dropping that kind of cash into Adobe's gaping maw today.
Anyone know of an alternative product that runs on Windows and can do everything that the full CS2/3/4 suites can do (including the integration and functionality like Bridge)? I've been looking for a while and haven't found anything suitable yet, but if I ever do, I'll take the greatest pleasure in telling Adobe to stick their software right up their bum. Sods.