UK competition regulator finds Adobe’s purchase of Figma could reduce innovation

#1

Post by saulr » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 10:56 AM UTC

UK competition regulator finds Adobe’s purchase of Figma could reduce innovation
gov.uk

Re: UK competition regulator finds Adobe’s purchase of Figma could reduce innovation

#2

Post by have_faith » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 12:02 PM UTC

I think many Figma users are concerned with Adobe's purchase of Figma. I've already removed Adobe products twice from my life (professional and personal) and would prefer to not have to do it again.

That said, I can't see the acquisition being a problem for competition in this particular space. It's not hard to imagine someone just making figma-but-different and becoming the next big thing. There are also countless other existing options.

Re: UK competition regulator finds Adobe’s purchase of Figma could reduce innovation

#3

Post by mattkevan » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 12:13 PM UTC

Good. It absolutely would reduce innovation.

Adobe have already canned XD, which was a poor alternative to Figma, but Adobe had to at least pretend to compete.

Problem is, even though Figma have captured a large proportion of the digital design market, they took on so much funding that their only real options are a purchase or IPO.

I don’t believe that subscriptions alone would bring in enough for the kind of returns the VCs are looking for, especially as it’s almost free for individual designers.

And so the enshittification begins.

Re: UK competition regulator finds Adobe’s purchase of Figma could reduce innovation

#4

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 12:14 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: UK competition regulator finds Adobe’s purchase of Figma could reduce innovation

#5

Post by tuukkah » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 12:27 PM UTC

The way out: https://penpot.app/

Re: UK competition regulator finds Adobe’s purchase of Figma could reduce innovation

#6

Post by rvz » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 12:41 PM UTC

Unsurprisingly. [0]

Did people here really think that the regulators are going to allow this merger to happen?

Adobe might as well pay the $1BN break up fee and the Figma will just use that to fund their IPO.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33919862

Re: UK competition regulator finds Adobe’s purchase of Figma could reduce innovation

#7

Post by oli5679 » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 12:49 PM UTC

I interned at the CMA in 2014 and had several friends working on merger control.

This [1] page has more details on the case, and has an invitation to comment at the bottom. In my experience, detailed comments from relevant industry participants, e.g. customers, competitors, are given serious weight and consideration, and very few are supplied. It's a useful mechanism for those concerned about a tech merger.

"Invitation to comment: closes on 18 May 2023 3 May 2023: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is considering whether it is or may be the case that this transaction if carried into effect, will result in the creation of a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 and, if so, whether the creation of that situation may be expected to result, in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services.

To assist it with this assessment, the CMA invites comments on the transaction from any interested party.

These comments should be provided by the deadline set out above.

Contact Please send written representations about any competition issues to:

xxxx@cma.gov.uk"

Other cases can be found here [2].

[1] https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/adobe-slash-figma-merger-inquir...

[2] https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases?case_type%5B%5D=mergers&market_...