Adobe CEO: We don’t need Apple’s iPad

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen doesn’t seem too broken up about Apple’s refusal to support its Flash technology on the iPhone and iPad. Speaking to the Telegraph, Narayen delves into why he’s moved on from that drama, as well as how the company has brought Flash to other, more open, mobile platforms.

“We believe in open systems. We believe in the power of the Internet and in customers making choices and I think a lot of the controversy was about their decision at that point,” Narayen said. “They’ve made their choice. We’ve made ours and we’ve moved on.”

Instead of lamenting where he can’t implement Flash, Narayen seems more interested in the companies that actually want it on their platforms: “It’s a business decision. With the energy and innovation that our company has, we’d rather focus on people who want to deliver the best experience with Flash and there are so many of them.”

Adobe has already released Flash 10.1 for Google Android users (on phones that support Android 2.2, the version codenamed FroYo), and it’s working on versions for Palm WebOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, and more. It’s working closely with pretty much every platform and handset maker that’s offering Flash, including Motorola, HTC, Google, and Palm/HP.

It’s been months since Apple CEO Steve Jobs penned his infamous open letter, “Thoughts on Flash”, in which he elaborated on why he doesn’t want Adobe’s Flash software on the iPhone or iPad. He later went on to say that the letter was a result of Adobe picking a fight with Apple.

The lack of Flash doesn’t seem to be hurting sales of the iPad, which surpassed 3 million units sold at the end of June.