Adobe rips up rebate rules after resellers riot

Adobe has tweaked its rebate programme in response to complaints from partners that it was too complex to manage and the sales targets were unachievable in the current biz climate. The software maker introduced out a new structure last autumn and rolled out a tiered deal registration programme, a process that some partners …

[Anonymous Coward]

Retailers go away

Adobe are now only interested in selling their products via download direct. In fact they are especially interested in selling their software by subscription.

I'm surprised they are still using retail at all. They make it expensive and painful to buy from resellers and now insist on selling you an update every year. And don't think you can get away with skipping an update as the upgrade offers are tiered and the best you might manage is to get a limited time discount if your old version is extremely out of date.

What they want is for the users to be subscribers. Subscription also looks like a good deal at the moment but you know they'll turn the screws once everyone is on-board.

[Nathan Askew]

Subscription model

And their subscription model is far more expensive in the EU than it is in the US. In the UK it can work oyt as nearly £900 a year!

[Barry Lane 1]

Re: Subscription model

I used to upgrade every time a new version of PShop, Illustrator, Acrobat, etc appeared, but Adobe's goods are now more expensive than gold. I imagine the pirated versions are flying off the shelves and depriving Adobe of a load of cash - and serve 'em right, frankly - but the retailers must be looking on in despair. As much as I enjoy hearing Adobe's pathetic excuses for the ultra-high prices charged here in the UK against the already phenomenally high prices in the USA, their business model sucks in grand style. Would it be too harsh to suggest that the entire board of directors be taken out and stood against a wall?