Guide Note:
Adobe Systems is one of the leading manufacturers of document management and graphics design software. Well known for their
Adobe Photoshop product, the company also produces a wide range of other products such as Adobe
PDF. Founded in 1982 by
John Warnock and
Charles Geschke, they helped to launch the desktop publishing industry when Apple licensed their postscript technology for use in their laser printers. In 2005 Adobe acquired
Macromedia, one of their few large competitors in the space.
Fast Facts:
- Ticker: ADBE (NASDAQ)
- Established in 1982
- Founders: John Warnock and Charles Geschke
- Headquarters: San Jose, California
- Employees: 6,677 (as of January 2007)
- 2007 revenue: $3.157 billion USD
- Top products: Photoshop, Flash Player
Acquisition of Macromedia:
On December 12, 2005 Adobe acquired their largest competitor Macromedia. The deal was valued at 3.4 billion in stock and brought all former Macromedia products into the Adobe family. These applications include Coldfusion, Flash, Dreamweaver and several other popular web/graphic design programs.