Autodesk Experiences Growing Pains
Software vendor Autodesk has shed 10% of 'Systems' workforce in its Media and Entertainment division after disappointing sales for its high end post production systems including Inferno, Lustre and Flame.
Only staff at its Montreal headquarters are affected. Former product director Bill Roberts and Pierre Bouchard, director of systems R&D, have left the company along with 30 R&D and support staff.
Overall revenues for the division’s third quarter to November rose 50% to $64m on the back of strong sales of its animation software including Maya and 3ds Max. But its systems business grew by just 5% as the company continues to transition all of its products from SGI to software only Linux-based platforms.
“This year we’ve undergone a major transition in our systems business and it’s not been easy,” said head of marketing Maurice Patel. “We’re adapting to a different business model based on PC components rather than SGI and moving to a new, agile development model.”
Sales of Lustre, the firm’s £250,000 flagship colour correction suite have been sluggish since introduction in 2004 with only four UK sales including ones for Prime Focus and Technicolor. The introduction of an £80,000 Lustre HD system last April targeting HD commercial and TV programming applications has yet to win UK customers.
“Soho is a tough market for us to crack,” admits product manager Marcus Schiloer. “The market is very competitive with Quantel, Filmlight and Nucoda all located there.”
Only staff at its Montreal headquarters are affected. Former product director Bill Roberts and Pierre Bouchard, director of systems R&D, have left the company along with 30 R&D and support staff.
Overall revenues for the division’s third quarter to November rose 50% to $64m on the back of strong sales of its animation software including Maya and 3ds Max. But its systems business grew by just 5% as the company continues to transition all of its products from SGI to software only Linux-based platforms.
“This year we’ve undergone a major transition in our systems business and it’s not been easy,” said head of marketing Maurice Patel. “We’re adapting to a different business model based on PC components rather than SGI and moving to a new, agile development model.”
Sales of Lustre, the firm’s £250,000 flagship colour correction suite have been sluggish since introduction in 2004 with only four UK sales including ones for Prime Focus and Technicolor. The introduction of an £80,000 Lustre HD system last April targeting HD commercial and TV programming applications has yet to win UK customers.
“Soho is a tough market for us to crack,” admits product manager Marcus Schiloer. “The market is very competitive with Quantel, Filmlight and Nucoda all located there.”
Adrian Pennington
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