Piracy prompts Macromedia's shift to S’pore

Macromedia is set to relocate its Asia-Pacific regional office from Melbourne to Singapore.

The majority of our business today is across Asia, with Australia (only representing) around 20 percent to 25 percent," said Peter O’Connor, Macromedia's vice president for Asia Pacific. "The growth opportunities for the company are significantly greater in Asia than in Australia and New Zealand."

However, ANZ remains the 'cornerstone' of Macromedia’s Asia-Pacific business, he said.

Although Greater China is a major market for the company, Singapore was chosen over Hong Kong as it is more centrally placed in the region, minimizing travel time to key markets.

None of Macromedia’s Australia-based staff will lose their jobs as a result of the change. Three people —including Sein Chew, director of business development for Asia Pacific — will relocate from Melbourne to Singapore. The Melbourne office, which has been Macromedia’s Asia Pacific HQ for over a decade, will close and the remaining two employees will work from their homes.

According to O’Connor, "a significant percentage of our user base is pirated" and getting closer to the markets affected will help the company address this problem. For example, one of Sein Chew’s tasks will be to arrange for Macromedia software to be preloaded on PCs manufactured in the region for major brands such as Compaq, Dell, Legend and Samsung. This would increase the company’s distribution channels as well as reducing piracy, O’Connor said.

Macromedia’s Sydney sales office "will continue to grow," he said, and will move to larger premises to accommodate two or three additional marketing and inside sales staff. "Reseller loyalty is very important to us," said O’Connor, so the extra employees will generate qualified leads for resellers, allowing existing managerial and technical staff to spend more time with customers. The merger of Macromedia and Allaire has provided "enormous opportunities to expand into the developer market," said Steve Lambley, marketing manager for Australian and New Zealand.

Stephen Withers reported from Sydney, Australia.