DV Info Net - Avid cuts 20% of workforce.

In large companies these types of decisions aren't made on a whim. I bet the genesis of this move was months ago when they began restructuring. It doesn't hurt to make this type of move in the midst of an economic downturn, but I don't think the recent economic events are the cause of this. Seems to me that the company is trimming the fat by slimming the workforce and selling off product lines that either aren't profitable or no longer fit into the direction of the company.

My guess is that with the sale of Softimage they're saying, you know what, we're an editing company. We do that well, let's stop trying to be all thing to all producers. If they are sharpening their focus on the NLE market, that could be bad news for everyone else. Sentiment seems to be shifting from Apple and FCP these days and Adobe apears to be the beneficiary of that, but if Avid can get things moving in the right direction again they might be able to capitalize as well.