Adobe gives up on web-design product to rival Figma after deal collapse

Adobe Inc. will end its effort to create a web design product to rival Figma Inc. after the collapse of its proposed $20 billion acquisition of the startup.

When it agreed to buy Figma, which helps users design app and website interfaces, Adobe put its competing program XD in “maintenance mode,” ceasing to launch new features or sell it individually. The deal to purchase Figma fell apart under regulatory pressure in December and the creative software giant hadn’t announced whether it would resurrect XD or attempt to build another competitor.

“We have no plans to further invest in it,” a spokesperson said Tuesday of XD. 

Figma had trounced Adobe’s XD in recent years. Adobe General Counsel Dana Rao said in 2022 that XD only made about $17 million a year in standalone annual recurring revenue and had 19 developers on staff.

With billions of dollars that would have gone toward Figma freed up, some Wall Street analysts wondered whether Adobe would attempt to build another competing product design app. The spokesperson said the company is open to exploring partnerships with other companies in the space.

“We are focused on the opportunity we have across imaging, photography, design, web, animation and 3D, as well as Express and Firefly” the spokesperson said. Adobe has been integrating artificial intelligence features, and its proprietary Firefly model, into its suite of creative software.

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