Avid has some very clear advantages in the NLE marketplace, particularly in workgroups and simultaneous asset utilization, etc. I think they've lost quite a bit of ground in the boutique business over the years from simply not keeping the competition in their sights for a number of years.
Avid is really a group of businesses, much like Discreet was at the time of the demise of *edit. There are multiple product lines and multiple markets. The futures of the traditional Avid business vs the DigiDesign audio business vs the M Audio and Pinnacle pro/consumer businesses, not to mention Softimage 3d and Sibelius, may start to diverge depending on the strategy of the management of Avid going forward.
My guess after looking at the last four quarters or so for Avid would be that some of these things may end up sold to create cash and narrow the company's focus.
The knee-jerk assumption would be that Avid would shed divisions that aren't pro editing related, but my impressions of the staff cuts over the last year is that division was hit hard. I always thought that Avid's support was at least as important an asset as the equipment itself, and an important competitive advantage for Avid. With the staffing cuts, lower-priced products (support like Avid provides costs serious money folks), and eroding marketshare in single or multiple system shops without shared asset management, I think that it will be extremely challenging to maintain the level of support that Avid customers appreciate.
"Avid will be in Vegas" may be an interesting statement in that I wonder if Avid will be in Vegas as part of another manufacturer's portfolio?
I know...blasphemy...but the cost-cutting I've seen at Avid seem like short-term stock price bolstering (look at the most recent quarterly report) but long term, it looks like some of these cuts will affect the company's ability to continue to do business under all these brand flags.
...just some chin scratching.
TimK,
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Kolb Productions,
Creative Cow Host,
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http://www.focalpress.com
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