Avid is to sell its consumer audio and video product lines to concentrate on the professional products it’s best known for.
The company’s consumer video editing line is being sold to Corel, which Avid describes as “a consumer software company headquartered in Ottawa, Canada”. Professional artists who use Corel Painter may disagree. The tools affected by this are Avid Studio, Pinnacle Studio, and the Avid Studio App for the Apple iPad, as well as other legacy video capture products.
Audio products for home users are being sold to inMusic, the parent company of brands such as Akai Professional, Alesis and Numark. The products involved include M-Audio brand keyboards, controllers, interfaces, speakers and digital DJ equipment and other product lines. Avid will continue to develop and sell its Pro Tools line of software and hardware, as well as associated I/O devices including Mbox and Fast Track.
“The changes we are announcing today make Avid a more focused and agile company,” said Gary Greenfield, CEO of Avid. “By streamlining and simplifying operations, we expect to deliver improved financial performance and partner more closely with our enterprise and professional customers. Our objective remains to provide these customers with the innovative solutions that allow them to create the most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the world. I’m excited about our future prospects.”
Avid says that due to these changes, about 20 per cent of its workforce will either transfer to these companies or be made redundant. The company has already told the SEC in the US that COO Kirk Arnold is stepping down and VP of Finance Jason Burke is to leave the company.
