Adobe goes native
Adobe Systems Europe believes it brings good reason for rejoicing to the country's community of graphic designers and other digital illustrators.
One of the foremost manufacturers of network publishing applications, Adobe is preparing to launch several new products this year, as well as push its new Polish-language, or "localised," software here.
With new software such as Photoshop Album, which organises and preserves digital photos and will be shipped in a few weeks, as well as an entire suite of applications in Polish, Adobe hopes to reach the same 30% growth level in the country that it achieved last year.
But with many graphic designers, ad agencies and publishing houses already using Adobe's products in English, how successful will sales of the localised versions be?
Krzysztof Pietrasik, editor of Digit magazine and a graphics illustrator himself, says that despite the widespread use of Adobe's English-language software, there is a big demand for Polish versions.
Adobe has sold its products here since 1992, with its popular Photoshop (for image editing) as the best-seller.
Last year's high growth rate (Adobe will not disclose revenue figures for individual countries) along with a decline in software piracy rates here, prompted the company to invest in developing Polish-language versions. Localised versions are also sold in the Czech Republic and will later be available in Hungary and Russia.
At present, about 53% of all software in the country is illegal, according to a report issued in September 2002 by the Business Software Alliance, an advocacy group for the software industry. Globally, the rate of violations for illegally copyrighted software has been rising, while it continues to fall here. Pirated software dropped from 54% of all software in use in 2000 to 53% in 2001, a slight improvement compared to a 10% decrease in 1997. The organisation credits the local police and media for holding the rate down.
By comparison, western Europe saw an increase from 34% in 2000 to 37% in 2001, according to the BSA.
Had the piracy rate in the country been 90%, for example, then it would have been impossible for Adobe to justify producing localised versions because it would have never got a return on its investment, said Joe Girling, Adobe's regional director for central and eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East,
Nevertheless, Girling and Michal Metlicka, the company's eastern Europe regional manager, aren't too concerned about the day-tripping street sellers who peddle illegal copies of Adobe software at outdoor markets, such as Warsaw's infamous "Russian market" in Praga, where illegal copies of Photoshop and InDesign (for page layouts) can be purchased for a mere zł. 15-zł. 20 each. Such purveyors of illicit copies are best left to the local police, and will never be permanently eliminated, they said.
"There is an element of people who use our software and who would never pay for it anyway, perhaps because they are very casual users," Metlicka said.
They are, however, concerned that small and medium-sized firms and corporate clients should comply with software licence requirements, the area where the "big problem" lies, according to Girling.
"It's not as if they want to go out and copy software illegally," he said. "It just happens in an organisation because of the inherent difficulties in managing software licences across large organisations." Adobe provides promotions and amnesties, and offers assistance and advice to its corporate purchasers to ensure they are compliant. Each percentage reduction in the number of illegal copies sold would mean an equal increase in the company's revenue here, Girling said.
One of the foremost manufacturers of network publishing applications, Adobe is preparing to launch several new products this year, as well as push its new Polish-language, or "localised," software here.
With new software such as Photoshop Album, which organises and preserves digital photos and will be shipped in a few weeks, as well as an entire suite of applications in Polish, Adobe hopes to reach the same 30% growth level in the country that it achieved last year.
But with many graphic designers, ad agencies and publishing houses already using Adobe's products in English, how successful will sales of the localised versions be?
Krzysztof Pietrasik, editor of Digit magazine and a graphics illustrator himself, says that despite the widespread use of Adobe's English-language software, there is a big demand for Polish versions.
Adobe has sold its products here since 1992, with its popular Photoshop (for image editing) as the best-seller.
Last year's high growth rate (Adobe will not disclose revenue figures for individual countries) along with a decline in software piracy rates here, prompted the company to invest in developing Polish-language versions. Localised versions are also sold in the Czech Republic and will later be available in Hungary and Russia.
At present, about 53% of all software in the country is illegal, according to a report issued in September 2002 by the Business Software Alliance, an advocacy group for the software industry. Globally, the rate of violations for illegally copyrighted software has been rising, while it continues to fall here. Pirated software dropped from 54% of all software in use in 2000 to 53% in 2001, a slight improvement compared to a 10% decrease in 1997. The organisation credits the local police and media for holding the rate down.
By comparison, western Europe saw an increase from 34% in 2000 to 37% in 2001, according to the BSA.
Had the piracy rate in the country been 90%, for example, then it would have been impossible for Adobe to justify producing localised versions because it would have never got a return on its investment, said Joe Girling, Adobe's regional director for central and eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East,
Nevertheless, Girling and Michal Metlicka, the company's eastern Europe regional manager, aren't too concerned about the day-tripping street sellers who peddle illegal copies of Adobe software at outdoor markets, such as Warsaw's infamous "Russian market" in Praga, where illegal copies of Photoshop and InDesign (for page layouts) can be purchased for a mere zł. 15-zł. 20 each. Such purveyors of illicit copies are best left to the local police, and will never be permanently eliminated, they said.
"There is an element of people who use our software and who would never pay for it anyway, perhaps because they are very casual users," Metlicka said.
They are, however, concerned that small and medium-sized firms and corporate clients should comply with software licence requirements, the area where the "big problem" lies, according to Girling.
"It's not as if they want to go out and copy software illegally," he said. "It just happens in an organisation because of the inherent difficulties in managing software licences across large organisations." Adobe provides promotions and amnesties, and offers assistance and advice to its corporate purchasers to ensure they are compliant. Each percentage reduction in the number of illegal copies sold would mean an equal increase in the company's revenue here, Girling said.
