For a Limited Time, Adobe Drops its Photoshop CC Subscription Pricing to $10/mo – Is it a Sign?

This past summer, Adobe did something that most people couldn’t believe: It went online-only. Well, mostly. While certain apps, such as Lightroom, would remain as stand-alone versions, the heart and soul of the company’s portfolio took to the clouds. For those who’ve always enjoyed the luxury of being able to upgrade on their terms, and the most efficient way for them, this was a problem. I’m not sure about most people, but I actually try to shy away from subscription services. They add up too damned quickly.

Up to this point, Adobe hasn’t been too vocal about CC’s overall success, but its latest move does make us curious about things. On its official blog, the company announced a very attractive deal that will last only up until the end of the year. Effectively, you’ll be getting a subscription to Photoshop CC at half the original advertised price, and access to the latest edition of Lightroom. Further, you’ll earn a Behance portfolio and 20GB of online storage.

Admittedly, this is one hell of a deal. Remember, a retail version of Photoshop used to cost $600. While $20/mo seemed a bit much at CC launch, $10/mo is much easier to stomach. And unlike some of the company’s other promotions in the past, this pricing lasts until you decide to unsubscribe – no change after the first year.

This begs the question: Does this prove that CC, Creative Cloud, has been a relative failure so far? I don’t think it’d be safe to say that, but the fact of the matter is, Adobe was confident with its $20/mo single-app pricing, and only a few months later, it’s halved it. It’s actually such great pricing, that if my Creative Suite multi-app license was eligible for upgrading to PS CC on this deal, I’d be heavily considering it. Alas, the upgrade pricing is exclusive to those who own stand-alone copies of Photoshop CS3~CS6.

What do you think? Is this the beginning of some major changes in store for Adobe? Could you see the company backtracking on its cloud-only initiative to appease its customers? One thing’s for sure – Adobe has already, and unfortunately, pissed-off a good chunk of its consumer-base, so one must wonder if the execs there didn’t quite think this one through.

Or, I could just be jumping to conclusions like I sometimes have the knack of doing.