Adobe Halts Flash Player Development For Mobile Browsers

Adobe revealed last night that it is discontinuing
development of its Flash Player for mobile browsers, and instead
focusing on HTML5 for mobile devices.

The company said that HTML5 is "the best solution for creating and
deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms," and that
Adobe will no longer develop the mobile Flash Player following the
release of version 11.1.

Instead, Abode will increase its investment in HTML5, including advanced
gaming and premium video options. The company aims to enable Flash
developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for mobile devices.

Meanwhile, the company is continuing to work on Flash Player 12 for PC
browsers, and it said that it is looking to "offer developers and
content publishers great options for delivering compelling web and
application experiences across PCs and devices."

Danny Winokur, VP at Adobe, said, "We are super excited about the next
generations of HTML5 and Flash. Together they offer developers and
content publishers great options for delivering compelling web and
application experiences across PCs and devices."

There has been conflict between Adobe and Apple in the past over Adobe's Flash platform. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said last year that his company's decision not to support Flash on its iOS devices was due to Flash being a closed platform.

"Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but
in fact the opposite is true," he explained. He noted that anyone that
wants to develop for Flash has to go through Adobe.

Elsewhere, Adobe altered its fourth quarter 2011 fiscal results
forecast. As part of the forecast, the company revealed that it is
planning to cut its staff numbers by around 750 people in North America
and Europe. The most recent total headcount at Adobe was 10,040 as of
September 2 this year.

[UPDATE: A report on ZDnet
cited sources close to Adobe who said: "Our future work with Flash on
mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package
native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores. We will no
longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version
or device configurations. Some of our source code licensees may opt to
continue working on and releasing their own implementations. We will
continue to support the current Android and PlayBook configurations with
critical bug fixes and security updates."]