Adobe Systems
Now Apple
Some background
Avid Technology
Adobe is aggressively taking advantage of Apple's wrong-headed Final Cut Pro X release by offering huge discounts to Final Cut Pro users who switch to Premiere Pro. That program has had its devotees since its introduction in 1991, but before the recent worm-in-the-Apple debacle, it seemed unlikely that Premiere Pro could be a serious threat to Final Cut Pro.
Apple's loss of the relatively small subset of professional Final Cut Pro users probably won't take a noticeable bite out of its bottom line. But Adobe, a company with only 5% of Apple's market cap, could experience a much larger impact. And Adobe can't ignore the halo effect of integrating Adobe's many other programs into the Premiere Pro workflow.
Avid, too, is drooling over regaining the market share that it once saw as its birthright. Its editing system is still a well-respected editing standard even though the company has been losing money since 2005.
Apple has unlocked the door. Which company will get its foot in first? Keep tabs on the outcome by putting them on your Watchlist.