Adobe is making some bold claims by saying its Flash technology will be on at least 250 million smartphones by the end of 2012, despite the fact that it won’t be coming to Apple’s mobile products.
This could account for about 53% of all smartphones shipped in 2012 and it would give Adobe good traction in the mobile space. The company’s web technology is almost a defacto standard but the full version doesn’t ship as a native option on any smartphone right now. This means users can’t access sites like YouTube directly through the browser, although most platforms have a dedicated player for these.
Apple has been very public with its criticisms about Flash, as it doesn’t think this technology is right for its devices because of resource requirements and the lack of touch interfaces. Adobe has also shot back publicly and, while it wants to be on the iPhone, it will be taking a multi-platform approach.
The web technology is already available on Android 2.2, or Froyo, and it will soon be coming to other major platforms like BlackBerry, Symbian and webOS. Adobe is hoping that conditioning users to expect Flash on a mobile handset could eventually make Apple relent on its stance.
“Maybe we don’t get to the iPhone or iPad,” Anup Murarka, director of technology strategy, told Reuters in an interview. “If anything, we’re seeing continued growth in the install base and the usage of Flash and we see that continuing to grow,” he said.
While this would be an impressive feat for Adobe to pull off, I don’t think it will sway Apple and its CEO Steve Jobs. The company is rocking and rolling with its iPhone and iPad and it should have more than 100 million iOS devices shipped in a few months. Even if it doesn’t have the market share, the iOS demographic is highly-coveted by advertisers and content makers. Publishers have already shown a willingness to tailor their content to reach iPhone and iPad owners.
[Via Reuters]