The End of Quicken Desktop Personal Finance Software?
Mr. Hogan did not cite any sources to back up the low revenue stream being generated by Quicken, so I went out to Intuit's Investor site and gave the 2007 annual report and 2008 quarterly statements a quick look-over. I did not find much information on Quicken specifically, since Intuit lumps it in with some other products under Other Business, which is a segment that shows decent growth as a whole.
Intuit's 2007 Annual Report, Page 33, revealed that the Quicken product was not performing well with Fiscal 2007 Compared with Fiscal 2006: "Quicken revenue was flat...", and Fiscal 2006 Compared with Fiscal 2005 notes, "Quicken revenue was slightly lower in fiscal 2006."
The bottom line for those whose eyes glaze over at my short analysis: while it is not conclusive and no announcement has been made, I suspect even more than before that Quicken 2009 desktop software will be the last version offered in the U.S. while Quicken Online will be developed further.
I've said it before and can't resist saying it again: If the bugs in current versions of Quicken - and Money Plus - were addressed, both Quicken and Money would have more successful desktop software sales. While a substantial number of people are migrating their personal finance management to the Internet, not everyone is willing to manage their money online (are you listening, Moneydance?).
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Comments
A note to our loyal Quicken customers: Quicken desktop software isn’t going anywhere. There will be a version after 2009. We are not going to abandon our loyal customers. I just wanted to make that clear to the readers here at About.com.
Our online product is built for a different customer with much different needs. Despite our increased focus in high growth areas like the online space, we will continue to develop desktop software.
Quicken invented the personal finance software space back in 1983 and 25 years later we’re not giving up on it. Thanks.
Quicken Scott - Thank you for commenting. I would sincerely like to see Quicken desktop evolve into very dependable software. So many complain about bugs in the software, and I’ve experienced a bug myself in Quicken 2009 that I believe was patched last year. I saw a lot of focus on customer service in Intuit’s annual report, and I would like to see that in come through in how Quicken support and development meets customer needs. I don’t know if any complex software is completely bug-free, but I am surprised that Quicken keeps piling on features while some bugs seem to go unaddressed.
Shelley
I completely agree Shelley. Several bugs have been there for several version.
The numerous bugs in Quicken are the very reason I would not trust a pure online product. If the online version got upgraded to a new buggy version, you would have no recourse. Case in point is the online portfolio currently available as an adjunct to Quicken desktop. The old version that was working well was taken down in August 2008 and replaced with a new cumbersome and buggy version. By the end of August, one step updates from Quicken to the new online portfolio were disabled, and several pushbacks of the new live date followed. The one step update was finally reactivated for all versions of Quicken from 2007 to 2009 by November 10. Numerous problems with inaccurate performance data, quotes and unusable features remain to this date.
Despite the note from Quicken Scott that they are not abandoning their loyal customers, the impression I am left with is just the opposite. The new online portfolio was labeled as BETA a few days after its release in August, and from all I can tell, it looks like an ALPHA version that should not have been foisted on their customers. In fact, if it is a true beta vesion, the old fully working version slould have been kept around while satisfactory beta testing could be completed.
This is the problem with proprietary software. You are at the mercy of the company, for bug fixes. When you find a version that mostly works for you (and you have spent years learning the bugs and their workarounds) then an OS upgrade forces buying their new product. The new version is heaped with features that are mostly directed at revenue generation for the company (like online services with monthly fees), and comes with a new set of bugs to face — after a nasty data conversion. I hate Intuit.