In a surprising move, Adobe, a US software company, has announced that it will be discontinuing its China-tailored software bundle from the mainland market. The decision was made after a thorough business assessment, but no further details have been provided by the company.
The mainland website will no longer offer the China Photography Plan, which includes popular photo-editing apps such as Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop Express. This plan has been available through a partnership with e-commerce services provider Baozun. Customers can still purchase the annual plan for 888 yuan (approximately US$125) for up to five years through Adobe’s official online store on Alibaba Group Holding’s Tmall platform until June 1st. However, the Tmall store will stop accepting new subscriptions to the plan.
Adobe has stated its continued commitment to serving Chinese customers through other plans offered under Creative Cloud, their software collection. These include graphic design, video editing, web development, and photography software offered via the web. Individual apps like Photoshop are still available for users in China through Adobe’s business-oriented plans such as Teams and Enterprise available through authorized resellers at different pricing.
The China Photography Plan was launched in August 2019 and was initially marketed as an option for both professional and amateur photographers. It was introduced as Adobe’s first app solution for individual users in China. Despite its popularity among photographers in the country, it seems that Adobe has decided to discontinue this particular product line.