Fundamental shift
However, we identified Phase One’s other business area, its high-growth and much smaller in-house software business - Software Imaging Systems - as the primary focus for the future.
Its product - Capture One - was an impressive image processing programme that enabled photographers to transfer very large images quickly from a camera to a computer - with much greater colour accuracy, functionality and speed than possible with rival software.
To build on this competitive advantage in software, we invested heavily in software research and development and engineers, and worked with management to improve the functionality of the software and the rollout of new products. We also invested significantly in Capture One sales and marketing, to secure new customers and grow market share.
The strong growth in Capture One sales was also supported by the huge surge in the number of high-quality images being edited and shared on social media, which fuelled demand among a growing customer base.
Furthermore, we changed the way Capture One sold its products; it previously sold through perpetual licences, but we moved to a subscription model, offering customers access to updates and increasing the likelihood of customer loyalty, improving stickiness, lifetime value per customer, and revenue visibility.