Adobe's Announcement Competes With Apple's
Are you excited about the announcement next Tuesday morning? You know the one, from that Silicon Valley tech company that begins with an A? — No, I'm not talking about the long-awaited unveiling of the iPhone 5 by Apple.
Context & Ripple Effects
Adobe has booked its own announcement for the same Tuesday morning Apple is expected — though only rumored so far — to unveil the next iPhone, a head-to-head slot that puts two Silicon Valley companies beginning with 'A' in direct competition for press attention. The scheduling has extra edge given the companies' recent history: their Flash-era feud through 2010 left Adobe with every incentive to stop living on Apple's calendar.
Apple's announcement cycles have long distorted rivals' news plans — back in 2007, Google was already being pulled into speculation about a joint announcement timed to Apple's stage, and Apple's secrecy apparatus (confirmed here down to padlocked prototype cases and early 'Welcome to iCloud' emails slipping out) means competitors never know exactly what they are up against until Tim Cook walks out.
First-order effects
- Tech reporters covering Tuesday morning must choose between Adobe's event and Apple's rumored iPhone 5 unveiling, splitting first-day coverage and forcing Adobe to earn attention Apple would otherwise get by default.
Second-order effects
- Other vendors planning announcements this week now face the same calculus Adobe just made — ride Apple's spotlight by association or get buried by it — turning Apple's event calendar into a de facto scheduling constraint for the industry.
Third-order effects
- If rivals keep booking counter-programming slots against Cupertino, Apple's product cadence hardens into the industry's master news calendar, with competitors structuring launch seasons around dates Apple itself has not confirmed.
The trend: Rivals are increasingly timing their own announcements against Apple's event cycle, treating Cupertino's launch calendar as the fixed point around which the industry schedules.