An active discussion sparked with Adobe’s announcement on 15th September to buy Figma. Shantanu Narayen, Adobe’s chairman and CEO, said in the press release, “The combination of Adobe and Figma is transformational and will accelerate our vision for collaborative creativity.” The price would be paid in cash as well as stock, while the company stated that it would need a loan to finance the deal.
Spending a whooping $20 Billion is, of course, not without meaning. The general perception is that the tech giant has just eliminated a strong competitor by eating it up. The users of the renowned collaborative tool have expressed their concerns over the future of its pricing. They also fear losing the unique features they enjoyed in the tool. Some even think that Adobe would gradually scrap the iconic tool altogether. Even many users of Adobe itself are not happy with the deal. They see the deal as a threat to the survival of their favorite designing tool, Adobe XD.
However, there’s a great hope that this development isn’t going to harm anyone. Dylan Field, the co-founder and CEO of Figma, stated that the collaboration tool would retain its autonomy. It’s hoped that seeing the amazing growth Figma has experienced in the past few years, Adobe wouldn’t like to disrupt its internal operations. After all, it’s a matter of billions. So at least for now, from its pricing to its creativity, nothing important seems to be changing in Figma.
The people with a pessimistic approach claim that the history of Adobe regarding such collaborations does not show a ray of hope. It has been observed that Adobe doesn’t like competition, and is always in a bid to acquire its prominent competitors and let them lose their identity subsequently. Adobe has acquired 56 companies to date. In most of the cases, the acquired companies were dissolved into it, ultimately losing their own identity.
A few years back, Adobe bought Macromedia Inc., one of its biggest competitors. After having bought it, Adobe removed some of its products. Adobe acquired Behance which later suffered a great decrease in its traffic. Adobe also acquired Syntrillium software and converted it into Adobe Audition. Most of the companies Adobe acquired never remained the same. Is it the same future that Figma is going to face?
‘‘The Figma acquisition is all about getting rid of the competition’’, said Darren Hood, who is highly experienced in the domain of design and working at Arity as a design manager. He further said, “From a business perspective, Adobe has, once again, eliminated a major competitor.” Some rumoured that Adobe was prompted to take this step because Figma enjoyed greater popularity among designers than Figma, if only because it is free. That’s why designers all over the world are reluctant to welcome this deal.
Will Figma be a lost entity being devoured by Adobe? Will Figma flourish as a new product of Adobe in a developed form? Are the fears of designers true? Nothing can be said in certain terms about the future of the newly developed collaboration between Adobe and Figma. There is a variety of opinions from both sides predicting its future. The fact remains that the best option is ‘‘Wait and see’’.
