Adobe is set to shift its focus moving forward, with a greater emphasis on HTML5 following its recent acquisition of PhoneGap creator Nitobi.

According to a statement, the company will concentrate its mobile Flash activities on apps, creating standalone products bundled with the AIR runtime. This will see less emphasis on Flash as a browser extension, with the company instead shifting to HTML5 as a way to deliver enhanced web apps.

In a blog post, Danny Winokur, VP and GM of interactive development at Adobe, said that the company "will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations (chipset, browser, OS version, etc.) following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook." It will continue to provide critical bug fixes and security updates for existing configurations.

Winokur noted: "HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively.  This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms."

Adobe said that it will "design new features in Flash for a smooth transition to HTML5 as the standards evolve so developers can confidently invest knowing their skills will continue to be leveraged."

Adobe announced its acquisition of Nitobi early last month, stating at the time that PhoneGap has been downloaded more than 600,000 times to date, and “thousands” of apps built using it are available for Android, iOS, BlackBerry and other platforms.

The new strategy comes as part of a restructure for the company, which will see around 750 jobs cut in Europe and North America. This will cost it between US$87 million–US$94 million in pre-tax restructuring charges.