Adobe merges business units serving PCs, mobile

Adobe Systems Inc said it was putting under one roof businesses selling software for computers, phones and consumer electronics to make them run on a single technology platform.

The announcement is part of a series of management restructuring moves Adobe is making following the planned retirement of two long-time executives, effective May 1. A spokesman said no employee job losses would result.

The move represents the further consolidation of its 2005 Macromedia acquisition with the broader Adobe organisation while also recognising the growing convergence of once-distinct software and the need for it to run across a range of devices.

The merging of the different business units may appear on its face to be simply an organisational restructuring, where the Mobile and Devices Business Unit will be folded under Adobe's Experience and Technology group.

But the changes also are part of Adobe's effort to create a unified technical underpinning for software that serves everyone from Japanese phone users to YouTube watchers.

Adobe said its mobile and devices business unit is joining the experience and technology group led by Adobe chief technology officer Kevin Lynch, a former Macromedia executive. Gary Kovacs, vice president of product management and marketing for the mobile and devices unit, has been promoted to vice president and general manager of the business unit and will report to Lynch from May 1.

Kovacs takes over for Senior Vice President Al Ramadan, who is leaving Adobe effective April 30, after nearly 10 years with Adobe and, before that, Macromedia. Kovacs was previously vice president of product marketing at Macromedia.

Separately, the company said 16-year Adobe and Macromedia veteran David Mendels, senior vice president of its Business Productivity Business Unit, would leave at the month's end. The division is best known for its Adobe Acrobat document management software.