Adobe bets big on India with Creative Suite 6

NEW DELHI--India is a key market for Adobe Systems which has included several features in its Creative Suite 6 (CS6) specifically targeted to meet the requirements of the Indian market.

In an interview with ZDNet Asia, the software vendor's South Asia managing director Umang Bedi, described CS6 as "a big move for India" and the biggest product released in Adobe's 30-year history.

Launched in April, the suite includes 14 applications for graphic design, video editing and Web development. "In today's digital world, you need to create content for any platform or device. CS6 will revolutionalize the content creation process," Bedi said.

Citing figures from FICCI-KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2012 Bedi said the product release was particularly significant for the large Indian creative community, where the country's media and entertainment industry was expected to grow at 15 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach INR 1,457 billion (US$25.8 billion) by 2016.

He added that CS6 supports 17,000 mobile devices including those running Apple iOS, Google Android and Windows Mobile.

To cater to the Indian market, Adobe InDesign CS6 supports 10 Indian languages so publishers can work on regional languages without downloading additional plugins, he said. "Prior to CS6, we did not support any Indian language. In this release, we provide both font and dictionary support," he added, pointing to opportunities in India's fast-growing regional print publishing industry which is largely situated in the tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

According to the Ficci-KPMG report, Hindi and vernacular segments now contribute nearly 60 percent of Indian print media industry.

In another significant move to address the local market, Adobe also launched its Indian online store which will sell the latest Adobe products and issue bills in rupees. This way, Bedi said, customers will not have to worry about currency fluctuations.

Driving adoption via group discounts
Adobe also recognizes costs are huge constraint in India, he said, noting that CS6 products were priced from INR 78,288 (US$1,406) to INR 156,577 (US$2,812) which were beyond the reach of many creative professionals in the country.

To address this, Adobe is tying up with associations of photographers, publishers and textile manufacturers and offering these groups discounts on CS6 products.

Bedi said: "Through these associations, we hope to reach a larger base of creative professionals in India who, otherwise, would not have found it viable to invest in CS6 products."

The education sector will also be offered at a special price, he said, noting that the product is distributed both through its online store and Adobe's channel partners.

Pointing to India's video and broadcast industry as another focus area for the company, he said the animation and VFX (visual effects) industry grew 31 percent in 2010, while the broadcast and film market was projected to grow at a CAGR of 17 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively, according to the FICCI-KPMG report.

"These numbers project the flourishing video and broadcast industry in the country, and Adobe is bullish about the role it can play in enabling this growth trajectory for the industry with its technologies," Bedi said.

4G to be growth driver for Creative Cloud
Channel partners are also selling Adobe's products via Creative Cloud, the company's software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription model for CS6.

Bedi noted India's low broadband penetration and slow connection speeds. For these reason, the company was focusing more on CS6 rather than its SaaS variant. However, he expects Creative Cloud to take off with the imminent arrival of India's nationwide 4G network which would lead to improvements in Web connectivity.

He also noted that mobile devices were becoming more affordable, with tablet penetration forecasted to surpass PC penetration in 2012.

"Improved connectivity with 4G and affordable mobile devices are expected to generate significant tailwinds, fueling growth in digital content creation and consumption," Bedi said.

Swati Prasad is a freelance IT writer based in India.