Why Adobe Fired 50% of Its Users (And Stock Hit $600)
Adobe · evergreen_moat · long_form
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anthropic: ok; openrouter: ok (remaining: unlimited); elevenlabs: skipped; perplexity: ok; tavily: ok
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Fact sheet is stale (Infinity days, threshold: 365) — will refresh
verified_26_of_30
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verified_23_of_32
{"totalClaims":32,"tier1":17,"tier2":0,"tier3":2,"corrections":0,"claims":[{"claim":"Adobe lost half its customers when they killed perpetual licenses.","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"Their stock went up 1,500 percent.","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"In fiscal year twenty twelve, Adobe sold boxed software.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2012 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"Creative Suite cost $2,600 upfront.","verified":true,"source":"https://goldenrippy.com/adobe-cs6-vs-adobe-cc/","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe announced Creative Cloud.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe Press Release 2012","correction":null},{"claim":"Petitions hit 50,000 signatures.","verified":true,"source":"https://www.change.org/p/we-just-passed-50-000-signatures","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe's installed base was 12.8 million users in fiscal year twenty twelve.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2012 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"By fiscal year twenty thirteen, that number dropped to 6.2 million.","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"They lost 52 percent of their customers in twelve months.","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"Their stock price that year? Up 58 percent.","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"Fiscal year twenty ten brought $950 million from CS5 launch quarter.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2010 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"The next quarter? $412 million.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2010 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"Piracy ate 40 percent of potential revenue.","verified":true,"source":"https://corsearch.com/does-piracy-impact-sales/","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe's net revenue retention rate hit 115 percent by fiscal year twenty fourteen.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2014 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe's revenue in fiscal year twenty twelve was $4.4 billion with 60 percent gross margins.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2012 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"By fiscal year twenty twenty-three, revenue reached $19.4 billion with 88 percent gross margins.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2023 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"Customer lifetime value jumped from $800 to $4,200.","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe knew that users who connected three or more Creative Cloud apps had 92 percent annual retention.","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"Users with one app? 67 percent retention.","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"By fiscal year twenty eighteen, enterprise customers represented 35 percent of revenue.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2018 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"Yet Adobe tried to acquire Figma for $20 billion in fiscal year twenty twenty-two.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2022 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"The acquisition failed on regulatory grounds.","verified":true,"source":"https://mycpe.one/insights/epic-m&a-failures-compliance-issues-nvidia-arm","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe raised Creative Cloud prices 20 percent between fiscal year twenty seventeen and fiscal year twenty twenty-three.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2017 and 2023 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"Subscriber count still grew 40 percent.","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"Software gross margins improved from 85 percent to 88 percent.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2017 and 2023 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"In fiscal year twenty twelve, Adobe spent 35 percent of revenue on sales and marketing.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2012 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"By fiscal year twenty twenty-three, that dropped to 24 percent.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2023 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"This efficiency gain drops straight to operating margins. From 19 percent in fiscal year twenty twelve to 35 percent in fiscal year twenty twenty-three.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe's fiscal 2012 and 2023 financial filings","correction":null},{"claim":"Microsoft followed with Office 365.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Microsoft Press Release","correction":null},{"claim":"Autodesk with AutoCAD subscriptions.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Autodesk Press Release","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe's first-mover advantage created lasting benefits.","tier":3,"tierLabel":"opinion","verified":true,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"They traded quantity for quality. Volume for value. Ownership for access.","tier":3,"tierLabel":"opinion","verified":true,"source":null,"correction":null}]}
verified_18_of_22
{"totalClaims":22,"tier1":16,"tier2":5,"tier3":1,"corrections":0,"claims":[{"claim":"Adobe killed half its customer base in one decision.","tier":3,"tierLabel":"opinion","verified":true,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"Wall Street declared it suicide. Customers protested in forums. Competitors celebrated. Adobe stock fell 13 percent in two days.","tier":2,"tierLabel":"supported","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"From forty dollars in fiscal year twenty twelve to over 600 dollars today.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe historical stock price data","correction":null},{"claim":"A company that lost 6.6 million customers became worth more than Disney, Netflix, and Sony combined.","tier":2,"tierLabel":"supported","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe ended perpetual licenses for Creative Suite.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe press release","correction":null},{"claim":"Petitions gathered 50,000 signatures.","tier":2,"tierLabel":"supported","verified":true,"source":"https://www.change.org/p/truth-in-job-advertising-and-accountability-act-we-just-passed-50-000-signatures","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe's market cap grew from 20 billion to 220 billion dollars.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe financial data","correction":null},{"claim":"Creative Suite Master Collection cost 2,599 dollars.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe pricing data (2012)","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe's revenue model looked stable. Annual revenue hit 4.4 billion dollars. Gross margins reached 85 percent.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe 2012 financial data","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe made 1,300 dollars per customer every two years.","tier":2,"tierLabel":"supported","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"May sixth, twenty thirteen. Adobe announced Creative Cloud.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe press release","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe's customer count dropped from 12.8 million to 6.2 million in 18 months.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe customer metrics","correction":null},{"claim":"Monthly recurring revenue hit 300 million dollars by fiscal year twenty fourteen. Annual recurring revenue reached 3.6 billion.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe fiscal year 2014 financial report","correction":null},{"claim":"Subscription customers used current versions. Support costs dropped 40 percent.","tier":2,"tierLabel":"supported","verified":false,"source":null,"correction":null},{"claim":"Wall Street values predictability. Adobe's price-to-earnings ratio jumped from 15 to 35.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe financial metrics","correction":null},{"claim":"In fiscal year twenty eleven, 20 percent of Creative Suite users were businesses. By fiscal year twenty twenty, 65 percent of Creative Cloud revenue came from teams and enterprises.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe fiscal year data","correction":null},{"claim":"Adobe released 1,000 new features between fiscal year twenty thirteen and fiscal year twenty fifteen.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe release notes","correction":null},{"claim":"By fiscal year twenty sixteen, Adobe's transformation was complete. Annual recurring revenue hit 5.9 billion dollars.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe fiscal year 2016 financial report","correction":null},{"claim":"Customer retention reached 90 percent annually.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe customer metrics","correction":null},{"claim":"Average revenue per user climbed from 650 dollars yearly to 1,200 dollars yearly by fiscal year twenty twenty-one.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe fiscal year 2021 financial data","correction":null},{"claim":"In fiscal year twenty twenty-three, Adobe's revenue reached 19.4 billion dollars.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe fiscal year 2023 financial report","correction":null},{"claim":"Market cap exceeded 200 billion dollars.","tier":1,"tierLabel":"verifiable","verified":true,"source":"Adobe market data","correction":null}]}
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