Will Apple Allow Flash on the iPhone?
News that Adobe is close to completing development on a Flash App for the iPhone has generated plenty of discussion, but there seems to be a growing consensus that there isn’t sufficient incentive for Apple to publish it.
The iPhone’s closed platform gives Apple tremendous power which would only be weakened by offering developers another platform to create rich applications on. In terms of video it is less than critical; users already watch H.264 encoded YouTube clips via a separate app and can watch Quicktime encoded DailyMotion videos through the Safari browser. The range of video that can be watched without the Flash player will continue to increase as more video sites support industry standard codecs.
Access to the iPhone would be great for Adobe, the more platforms Flash can be used on the better, but Flash apps are typically processor heavy, they wouldn’t necessarily provide revenue for Apple and the iPhone already has a large, loyal user base. Until Flash can add substantial value, and right now it can’t there are few advantages in supporting it for Apple.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:39 am
[...] Ben Homer added an interesting post on Will Apple Allow Flash on the iPhone?Here’s a small teaserNews that Adobe is close to completing development on a Flash App for the iPhone has generated plenty of discussion, but there seems to be a growing consensus that there isn’t sufficient incentive for Apple to publish it. … [...]
October 1st, 2008 at 4:10 pm
“..but there seems to be a growing consensus that there isn’t sufficient incentive for Apple to publish it.”
You must mean Apple’s ‘incentive’ for iTunes profits and certainly not users ‘incentive’ to view the world of Flash video.
“The iPhone’s closed platform gives Apple tremendous power which would only be weakened by offering developers another platform to create rich applications on.”
Sure, developers would hate creating apps for Flash….you do realize that 90% of online video is already in Flash. What would free Hulu video do for Apple’s tremendous power?
“In terms of video it is less than critical; users already watch H.264 encoded YouTube clips via a separate app and can watch Quicktime encoded DailyMotion videos through the Safari browser.”
YouTube clips are still ‘limited’ but do you really believe most ‘mature’ iPhone users are only interested in YouTube and DailyMotion?
I surely can’t see how Flash does not bring it’s iPhone users ’substantial value’. Are you looking at Apple’s profits or pleasing iPhone owners with the FULL internet, not a tiny slice. Apple has to decide if they want to sell more phones or sell more vids from iTunes.
imo, they either adopt the full internet or let their current/upcoming smartphone competitors that do, gnaw away at their market share.
You don’t think providing the entire internet would make Apple’s users happier and spur more sales?
October 1st, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I’m thinking entirely from Apple’s corporate point of view, so this is coming from a profit-driven perspective, but that is also based on user demand.
I do not think that users would abandon the iPhone for a different device based on Flash alone. Developers will still create iPhone specific apps and websites and content distributors will find ways to deliver more video to the iPhone regardless of whether Flash is the medium for it.
The Flash player still has very high penetration and will continue to be used on the web, but the emergence of H.264 as a standard video format accessible via a range of players makes Flash as a video player less important. While flv played a major role in the development of web video, video viewing is driven by content, not the codec, and content distributors will set the agenda.