Why Adobe Should Lower Their Prices
If you’re an Adobe fan like me, you should check out FreelanceSwitch’s extensive review of Creative Suite 3.
A lot may be new with Adobe’s latest compilation of creative applications, including the new minimalist branding, but the price is still high. CS 3 retails for up to $1799 standalone and $599 as an upgrade. The upgrade is very affordable, and rewards those who’ve stayed loyal to Adobe throughout the years. But the standalone price is still too high.
Granted, Adobe must’ve spent a lot on developing these industry-standard programs, and of course they want to make a return on their investment. But, selling their creative suite at such a high price limits their appeal to new users. More people are experimenting with open-source alternatives since they just can’t afford to pay over a thousand dollars.
There will always be a market for Adobe products. Many top designers, content creators, and creative companies literally can’t live without them, since that is how they primarily make money. That’s why Adobe can get away with a premium price. But, imagine the explosion of creativity and new talent—and a greatly increased profit for Adobe—if their pricing point was lower. More people would buy a copy! And there’d be more opportunities for budding freelancers to maximize their creativity, since they’ll have easier access to the tools the top people use.
I’m not saying that Adobe should price their application suite at rock bottom prices. These are special programs that deserve to be expensive. In fact, I’d be really happy if the upgrade price listed above is actually that of the standalone version. $600 isn’t easy money, that’s for sure. But it also represents a fee I’m willing to pay for a group of great programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and Dreamweaver bundled together.
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POSTED IN: Ramblings of a Freelancer, Useful Tools
1 opinion for Why Adobe Should Lower Their Prices
Adobe CS3 - The Costs | KalaaLog
Sep 15, 2007 at 9:15 am
[…] more moderate, many would be able to get into the world of digital art. As Rico at Contract Worker, puts it: But, imagine the explosion of creativity and new talent—and a greatly increased profit for […]
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