Re: So if Avid goes under, then what?

[Oliver Peters] "The video edit software, ProTools, ISIS/Unity (shared storage), Euphonix and news room products all seem to contribute equal percentages to the bottom line"

And that bottom line has been in the red for many years now. While they're not losing as much as some years back, a Q1 2012 loss is more than half of what they lost for the entire year for 2011.

[Oliver Peters] "take a look at Quantel. They have restructured over the years and run a fraction of the workforce that Avid does. They have focused solely on the pro market. Although they have a small footprint, they are still the dominant company in DI, Stereo3D post and also offer leading solutions for news editing and cloud editing."

But it seems Avid isn't following that model. It may also be that Quantel doesn't have any viable low cost competition so they own their niche or at least a good portion of it.

Avid, I believe, will be facing lower cost competition in their hardware markets, I believe. If not, they can shed some more and target that. That they seem to be reluctant to do it is either a mistake or maybe they are also feel that their going to get hit in that market, which may be why they've toyed with other markets in recent years such as "prosumer."

Yes I could see them going the way of Quantel but if that's the solution, they aren't doing it (yet). Maybe the whole MC/Symphony crossgrade strategy is a big fail for them. All accounts are that it lost them money. Maybe they expect to make it back on high upgrade pricing, which people have always groused about.

While there certainly ways out for Avid, they've shown no signs of moving towards them beyond shedding employees. If they have a core business that's profitable, they're having a hard time hitting it. They've had one marginally profitable quarter in the last 22. The only thing keeping them afloat is cash on hand and lack of debt. Those, btw, are key things when it comes to being a desirable acquisition for somebody.