Final Cut Pro for Pros at NAB 2007?

by John Neely

Published on Mar 15, 2007 12:00 PM
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March 15, 2007 – When Apple plans a “special event” speculation and buzz spreads like wildfire though the Mac and analyst communities.  While the company’s plans to announce new software at the National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas has been public for some time, the stock analyst blog Notable Calls revealed new information today about a possible high-end software package.

According to Notable Calls, a widely cited anonymous blog that publishes Wall Street analysts’ notes, Piper Jaffray puts the likelihood of a high-end Avid competitor at possible, but not probably.  Notable Calls further writes that if Apple does plan a new more powerful version of Final Cut Pro, its price point would almost certainly be lower than systems it would compete with, including Avid’s Media Composer/Adrenaline solution.  When Apple first introduced Final Cut Pro in 1999, it quickly captured a share of the non-linear editor market in part by offering more functionality per dollar than any other consumer NLE available at the time.

Details on Apple’s special NAB 2007 event, scheduled for April 15th, are not yet available. However, with rumors of a flash-based Mac notebook to be launched later this year, and the company’s aggressive push into video content delivery, any move by Apple at NAB should generate more than its share of interest. Apple has increased the size of its booth this year, and moved from their usual site at the entrance to the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center to a more spacious central location.