Major Pricing Change for Adobe Upgrades Coming

[john_wheeler6]

<p>I did not know if this was the right Photo.net forum to post this information yet I am sure the moderators can move it if appropriate. I just figured those on this forum would be most interested in upcoming Adobe Upgrade pricing policy changes.<br /> If you don't like what you read below about the change, I suggest you provide customer feedback to Adobe (links and info provided near end of post on how to do that).<br /><br />Just a couple days ago Adobe revealed on their blog their new pricing policy that will only allow discounted prices on upgrades for CS6 for only those that hold CS5. Here is the quote from that Adobe blog:<br /><br />"For customers who prefer to remain on the current licensing model, we will continue to offer our individual point products and Adobe Creative Suite editions as perpetual licenses. With regards to upgrades, we are changing our policy for perpetual license customers. In order to qualify for upgrade pricing when CS6 releases, customers will need to be on the latest version of our software (either CS5 or CS5.5 editions). If our customers are not yet on those versions, we’re offering a 20% discount through December 31, 2011 which will qualify them for upgrade pricing when we release CS6".<br /><br />Here is the link to that Adobe blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2011/11/adobe-creative-cloud-and-adobe-creative-suite-new-choices-for-customers.html?PID=2159997"]http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2011/11/adobe-creative-cloud-and-adobe-creative-suite-new-choices-for-customers.html?PID=2159997<br /><br />I believe that there are many Adobe CS users that will not be able to afford the subscription model, nor an upgrade with each cycle. I would encourage Adobe to consider alternatives such as tiered pricing based on users on older versions of CS. I think this a bad business move for customers and also for Adobe.<br /><br />Here are some ways to contact Adobe to provide our feedback.<br /><br />1) I have started a thread on Photoshops official feedback website: http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/idea_ask_adobe_to_reconsider_their_new_creative_suite_pricing_policies?utm_content=topic_link&utm_medium=email&utm_source=reply_notification"]http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/idea_ask_adobe_to_reconsider_their_new_creative_suite_pricing_policies?utm_content=topic_link&utm_medium=email&utm_source=reply_notification<br />If you want to provide feedback you can post here, yet don't forget to post on the feedback site/thread.<br /><br />2) Here is an email for Brian Hughes a senior Photoshop Product Manager who has encouraged customer feedback including directly to him bhughes@adobe.com<br /><br />I encourage all to post their thoughts and share this information with other Photoshop users by propagating this information to other social media on this new pricing policy. Adobe will listen yet only if enough customers provide feedback.<br /><br />Netflix and Bank of America recently stepped back from some onerous price increases when their customers provided very strong feedback. Adobe needs to hear your concerns (all IMHO of course).<br>

<a id="thread_title_34523" href="http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/salon/34523-major-pricing-change-adobe-upgrades-coming.html"><br /></a></p>

[tom_harvey3]

<p>John, I agree whole-heartedly. It seems as though Adobe is trying to price themselves out of the market.</p>

[trey_cartwright]

<p>I don't see the problem with their new pricing model. If I buy a new 2011 car, am I entitled to a discount or upgrade to the 2012 model when it is released from the manufacturer? It works the same way with cameras and computers too, why not software? I know a newer better version is forthcoming within the next 12-18 months and upgrade when I need to, not just because it is available. <br>

I encourage people to share their feedback with Adobe, but they are a business that continues to innovate with their products and are entitled to profit from their technology.</p>

 

[scott_ferris]

<p>It is their software and I don't see why anybody should care how they change the pricing structure. Don't forget Apple have done exactly the same thing with Lion, you must have Snow Leopard running to buy Lion, if you have Leopard you first need to purchase Snow Leopard, that is a worse buisness model because you are forced to buy stuff you have no use for. Imaine if Adobe forced you to buy every preceding version before the latest!</p>

<p>Nobody is forced to upgrade CS, if you want the new features pay for them, if you don't, then don't. Adobe have come under a lot of criticism over non backward compatibility for ACR, that is a nonsense, they provide a free RAW converter with the very latest camera RAW compatibility so you can open new camera files in old copies of PS, you also get a manufacturer RAW processor on disc when you buy a camera.</p>

<p>No I think Adobe can do what they want with their prices, I am constantly bugged by the fact that so many people claim educational discounts too, it is full licensee payers that are subsidising that.</p>

<p>I do think it will encourage more piracy, but that is an issue for Adobe to ponder, I certainly don't want them to make CS6 even more genuine user unfriendly.</p>

[john_deerfield]

<blockquote>

<p>Don't forget Apple have done exactly the same thing with Lion, you must have Snow Leopard running to buy Lion, if you have Leopard you first need to purchase Snow Leopard, that is a worse buisness model because you are forced to buy stuff you have no use for</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Poor analogy if for no other reason that Lion is $30; 70% less than traditional pricing of OS X. Or perhaps I should say that the Adobe policy would be easier to swallow if CS6 upgrade is 70% less than it has traditionally been. </p>

<p>As a consumer and a stockholder, this effective price increase is a concern. In addition to banks, Netflix raised prices with disastrous consequences. Adobe may be well within it's rights to raise prices, to operate the business however they see fit, but it is the consumers, the buyers of their products that make their business possible. In an era when prices are going down and when they are not going down you are getting significantly more for your dollar, Adobe decides to charge more? I certainly agree they can, but I fail to see the wisdom in it. I don't see this putting revenues in the company coffers. Quark failed to listen to their customers too. Personally, the issue I have isn't so much purchasing a single license. I have CS5. It is running nicely. My plug-ins, actions, brushes, shapes etc are all loaded and I am running smoothly. Depending on what new features there are in CS6, I can't imagine why I would <em>need</em> to upgrade, yet I am penalized if I don't. So I wait for CS7. Only now I have to pay full boat for CS7. Sorry, not happening. I have still have CS2 on an old computer that serves us well. Our <em>usual</em> upgrade cycle was every other release. With this policy, I can easily see it being every third or fourth release. And that doesn't help Adobe. In other words, this policy change is just another indication that Adobe isn't connected to their market anymore. I starting feeling this way a few years ago, that Adobe was becoming less of a solutions company and more of a company, company. Maybe Quark should come out with a raster editor! ! !</p>

[Brad_]

I don't see a problem.

[john_wheeler6]

<p>Great to see some interest in the thread and the diversity of posts. Keep them coming.<br>

Just to be clear, having been a business manager at a fortune 500 company for decades before retiring, my concerns are not based on customers entitled to some pricing policy (they are not) nor based on Adobe being entitled to a profit (they are not). Companies are allowed to compete and customers can choose to buy or not. I like Adobe products and want Adobe to remain healthy. The initial reaction that I have heard from both small business owners and hobbyists indicate potential real loss of customer sales for Adobe. Though a relatively small sample size (I continue to sample) about 30% of small business owners are seriously looking on how to reduce the number of copies needed and substituting other products where they can. 60% of the hobbyists stated that they plan to freeze on the present version. (I have no data on large company purchases). If this initial information is anywhere near accurate, to me this indicates sales impacts that Adobe may not have anticipated. I much prefer that Adobe receive early bad news rather than late bad news to consider if their business decision is still spot on.</p>

[Carl Stone]

<p>As a hobbyist I can't justify paying full bore pricing for the newest PS version, when my version is only two versions back. Sure, that's my problem, but I suspect, like John, that being forced to do that will hit Adobe's sale volume. Each new version has new features, but are the new features of two consecutive versions worth the same price as the entire program? Not in my book. I'm willing to pay the upgrade price to go from CS 3 to CS 5, or CS 4 to CS 6, but I'm not willing to buy the program all over from scratch at over $650, because I'm two versions back. YMMV</p>

[Brad_]

>>> Though a relatively small sample size (I continue to sample) about 30% of small business owners

are seriously looking on how to reduce the number of copies needed and substituting other products

where they can. 60% of the hobbyists stated that they plan to freeze on the present version. (I have no

data on large company purchases).

 

Adobe does the same thing, with vastly larger sample sizes, with real data supported by historical

facts, across a wider range of customers. And have *much* greater insight into their customer base

and purchasing plans than an individual on the outside.

 

>>> If this initial information is anywhere near accurate, to me this indicates sales impacts that Adobe

may not have anticipated.

 

I'm confident they've run the numbers and will do OK.

[Carl Stone]

<p>Companies, including Adobe, can make the wrong call, in spite of their internal tools to guide them. Flash anyone? </p>

[eric merrill]

<p>While I'm not jumping up and down for joy at this news, it's not really a bank buster. To stay current requires $200 (less any discounts) every 12 to 18 months. This is far less than I used to spend on film. :)</p>

<p>Eric</p>

[Spearhead]

<blockquote>

<p>Companies, including Adobe, can make the wrong call, in spite of their internal tools to guide them. Flash anyone?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Flash has been a huge revenue generator for Adobe through the development tools over a fairly long life cycle for a software product. In what way is that a wrong call?</p>

[bgelfand]

<p>John, thank you for the post.</p>

<p>I did note that no price for upgrade was given. If Adobe keeps it present price structure for the upgrades (I paid $190 to upgrade from CS2 to CS5), then it will be a significant price increase. If, on the other hand, they reduce to price to say $75 to $100, it would still be a price increase, but somewhat managable 50% price increase rather than a 300% price increase.</p>

<p>I think Adobe is laboring under the assumption that Photoshop is used mainly by professionals while amateurs will be satisified by Photoshop Elements. Before everyone gets upset, in this context a professional is someone who makes their money from photography. In otherwords, if the IRS allows you to depreciate your photographic equipment, computers, and software as a business expense, you are a professional, If you cannot depreciate your equipment and deduct your expenses, you are an amateur. In this context the terms amateur and professional have nothing to do with the quality of your work.</p>

<p>I think Adobe is wrong in this assumption, and it will cost them sales.</p>

 

[Spearhead]

<p>What is missed completely from many of the negative comments is any sort of analysis of what is going on with Adobe's tools. Since the introduction of Lightroom 3, photographers have been using Lightroom far more than Photoshop. Photoshop's core base of graphics professionals is dominating the sales for Photoshop once again, after years of adoption by photographers. As a result, the pricing is far more appropriate to a tool that would be paid by a design shop, production business, independent graphics professional, etc. </p>

<p>I can do 99% of what I want to do with LR 3 and a handful of plug-ins. I'm still on CS4 because there is nothing since then that I need, and I doubt I will buy CS6 through CS99. As a photographer, I don't need it.</p>

[scott_ferris]

<p>Jeff makes another excellent point, Lightroom, that really is the better choice for the vast majority of photographers. It also allows access to the very latest versions of ACR and it enables you to open any aged camera RAW file in any PS version.</p>

<p>For far too long Photoshop has been an automatic photography software answer when the truth is very few even touch the surface of its capabilities, if it moves over to an even more graphics orientated bit of software, who cares, we, as photographers, have the ever expanding functionality of Lightroom and a multitude of plugins.</p>

<p>John,</p>

<p>Calling it a bad analogy and then referring to price misses the point, the comparative value of an Apple OS is also missing the point, the point was, if you want to buy a $30 bit of software, you have to buy another, totally useless, $30 bit of software to do it. That takes your $30 up to $60, there is no justification for having to do that at all, none, zero. I don't know where you got the 70% off from, Snow Leopard discs were always $30, well they were in my Apple store. Adobe are not saying that, what they are saying is far more reasonable, if you have the last version you can have a discount on a new one, if you don't you are like everybody else and must buy full price. Apple are forcing you to buy earlier versions at full price even when you want to skip versions. If Adobe were to do that and you have CS4, before you could upgrade to CS6 you would have to buy CS5 at full retail even if you never intended using it.</p>

[tim_eastman]

<p>To clarify, what will it cost me to upgrade from CS2 to CS5 if and when the pricing change goes into effect? I have put it off because I had other priorities for $ 190.00, but my hand may be forced.</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>Another reason not to go the Photoshop way :-) I skipped a version to get to my current edition and now am three/four versions behind ... do you really need the extra bells and whistles?</p>

[eric merrill]

<p>Tim:</p>

<p>Before the end of the year, you can upgrade to CS5 for $160. After CS6 comes out, be prepared to pay about $650.</p>

<p>Eric</p>

[john_wheeler6]

<blockquote>

<p>To clarify, what will it cost me to upgrade from CS2 to CS5 if and when the pricing change goes into effect? I have put it off because I had other priorities for $ 190.00, but my hand may be forced.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Adobe has not announced pricing for CS6 full versions or upgrades so we can only guess. If they maintained CS5 full and upgrade pricing for CS6 here is what I understand it would look like.<br>

Note: All of these are guesses based on today's CS5 full and upgrade prices<br>

For Photoshop Full CS6 version $699<br>

Upgrade from CS5/5.5 $199<br>

Upgrade from CS2 thru CS4 $398 (to upgrade to CS5 first if done by end of 2011)<br>

------------------------------<br>

For Photoshop CS6 Extended Full Version $999<br>

Upgrade from CS5/CS5.5 $349<br>

Upgrade from CS2 thru CS4 $698 (to upgrade to CS5 first if done by end of 2011)<br>

--------------------------------<br>

So those who are skipping a version basically would have to upgrade twice. </p>

<p>We will really have to wait for Adobe's pricing to know for sure. Not sure that CS6 pricing will be announced before the opportunity to upgrade to CS5 first is gone. Clarity from Adobe would of course be helpful.</p>

 

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>Is CS5 really more stable than CS3 in Snow Leopard and up? Bridge CS3 keeps crashing maybe once every two weeks and I can't tell head or tells what is the cause.</p>

<p>I've got a 2010 Mac Mini with an nVidia graphics card which isn't listed on Adobe's website as supporting OpenGL. Mine's a GeForce 320M using 256MB of integrated video ram. Heard CS5 improves previews but not sure in ACR and/or Photoshop zoom views.</p>

<p>I'ld upgrade to CS5 if I knew there were stability and performance improvements over CS3 which has been serving me well so far sans the crashing.</p>

<p>Where can you get CS5 upgrade for $160?</p>

[Carl Stone]

<p>From now until 12/31/11 you can get the CS 5 upgrade right from Adobe for 20% off, which comes to $160 in round numbers. </p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>It looks like Adobe regards the 5.5 update as a major upgrade, since it costs nearly as much to upgrade from CS5 to 5.5 as from CS4 to CS5. In that sense it's consistent with existing policy of going back two versions for upgrade to a new release.</p>

<p>We'd all like to make more money, so Adobe is hardly alone in this regard. If there is a real policy shift on upgrades, it may prove counterproductive if people continue to use an older version until it's no longer compatible with O/S upgrades. There's nothing I really needed that CS4 couldn't provide until this very week. That was for InDesign, which, along with Adobe Acrobat, I use more than Photoshop, Illustrator and Lightroom combined. I do use them all, however, which makes the Design Standard package attractive, but expensive. I'll take the 20% discount and upgrade now, perhaps delaying an upgrade to CS6 until it's out for a year or so.</p>

[scott_ferris]

<p>Photoshop in CS 5 is identical to Photoshop in CS 5.5 and CS 5.1, if you are not using the other programs in the CS suite that did change on 5.1 and 5.5, like Edward is, you don't need 5.5 for PS.</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>Well, it's not exactly $160, I got to the point of entering my CC card and Place Order and the total jumped to $178 which includes FedEx shipping at around $6 and just under $14 for tax.</p>

<p>Amazon has it for $160 flat due to super saver shipping and no taxes, but I can't tell if it's CS5 or CS5.5. The one at Adobe is CS5.5, but I'm having trouble finding specific differences between the two. Scroll down to the last comment on this page to see why this is confusing...</p>

<p>http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/what_is_the_difference_between_photoshop_cs5_and_the_version_of_photoshop_that_comes_with_creative_suite_5_5</p>

<p>I only want it for Adobe Camera Raw improvements in zoomed previews and features and Bridge stability.</p>

<p> </p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>Missed Scott's input about Photoshop CS5-5.5.</p>

<p>So it's alright to get the one on Amazon?</p>