Apple will likely leverage its Pixelmator acquisition as a new subscription revenue stream
As we learned earlier this week, Apple has made a big move in the digital picture editing industry by acquiring the well-known photo editing program Pixelmator. About ten years have passed since Apple’s most recent significant entry into the professional picture editing market with its Aperture software. Pixelmator has always been regarded as a perfect fit for Apple’s ecosystem because of its robust features and user-friendly interface.
Apple has previously purchased a well-known app. Do you recall the hyperlocal weather app Dark Sky? After purchasing the company, Apple included its functionality in its own Weather app. Other examples include Workflow, which later became the Shortcuts app, and others that were successfully or unsuccessfully absorbed.
Both professional and amateur photographers use Pixelmator because of its well-known user-friendly interface and extensive feature set. The software feels like an Apple product because of its features and UI, which perfectly complement Apple’s design ethos.
Although Pixelmator has reassured users that no changes are planned for the near future, there is conjecture over how Apple might incorporate the software into its ecosystem, according to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg. Rebranding Pixelmator as “Photos Pro” and making it available as a subscription service with Apple’s other professional apps, such as Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, is one possibility. This would maintain the present Photos app as a free, entry-level substitute while giving users access to a more sophisticated photo editing option.
An illustration of Pixelmator’s iPhone Photomator software. Image source Pixelmator
Apple’s continued plan to increase its service revenue is in line with its acquisition of Pixelmator. Since this would eliminate the possibility of a distinct, paid professional photo editing service, Gurman surmises that it is unlikely that Apple will incorporate Pixelmator’s functionality into the free Photos app.
In my opinion, it will be interesting to observe how this acquisition affects iOS, iPadOS, and macOS in the future. Since Pixelmator’s initial release on macOS, I have been using it; therefore, I was thrilled when it was made available on iOS. The apps have advanced to Pro levels and are now my first choice for editing images and even a small amount of video. But I’m also a little concerned about how much a subscription-based service may cost. It will be intriguing to observe how Apple strikes a balance between “Photos Pro”‘s functionality and cost to appeal to a wide spectrum of users.