Adobe Lost the Mobile Flash Battle With Apple: 10 Reasons Why

5. Adobe's desire to advance Web standards

Although it's easy to say that Adobe was forced into this decision, it's worth noting that the company has also been trying to advance Web standards as of late. In fact, as it pointed out in its announcement on Flash, it looks forward to helping improve HTML5. While Adobe once tried to lock people into its Web standards, it now realizes that advancing other solutions is the best move right now.

6. The threat of security woes

As Jobs pointed out in his open letter on Flash, the platform is one of the leading security threats on the desktop. In fact, many of the threats Windows users contend with come in via Flash. With that in mind, it's quite possible Adobe didn't want to field fresh complaints over possible security threats that could arise in the mobile space because of Flash. Improving the security of mobile devices and applications is an important goal in the market these days. Adobe didn't want to be seen as contributing to the problems.

7. The big players want HTML5

When one looks at the companies that support HTML5, it's no wonder Adobe lost its mobile battle. Apple, Microsoft, Google, RIM and other companies are trying to advance HTML5, while those companies that actually want to support Flash are few and far between. The big players want HTML5, and that is where the mobile market is going to move.

8. Customers didn't care

When Apple made it clear it was never bringing Flash to the iPad or iPhone, Adobe thought for sure that customers would complain and force Apple to change its stance. But now years later, it's clear that they didn't care that much one way or another. They just wanted their mobile devices to work reliably no matter what underlying technology kept them connected.

9. Developers worked around it

As Web developers started realizing that Apple wasn't going to budge on Flash, they started supporting HTML5 in record numbers. At first, many Websites that users surfed to on the iPhone were inaccessible. But nowadays, it's harder than ever to find Flash-only sites on the iPhone. Once Web developers moved to HTML5, Adobe had no other choice but pull back from its support of Flash on the Web.

10. Shareholders revolt

Examination of Adobe's financial statements reveals a company that's generating billions of dollars in revenue every year and scoring sizable profits. However, what's less apparent is that shareholders have grown increasingly concerned with Adobe's decision-making and have called on the company to start making some changes. Ditching Flash for mobile is one of the key parts of that.

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