Creative Technologies
Part A - Background and Business Profile of Creative Technology Ltd
Creative Technology is a publicly listed, Singapore-based company founded in July 1981 by a Singaporean Sim Wong Hoo and is a market leader in digital entertainment products.
He first set up a small shop in Singapore together with his classmates; developing and selling add on memory boards for Apple II computers and later began building Personal Computers for retail with initial start-up of $6000 from Sim’s own savings. Their vision was that multimedia would revolutionise the way people interact with their personal computers.
Creative introduced Cubic 99, the first personal computer to be designed and produced in Singapore in 1984 confident that it will be a hit with the mass market. However, within two years, clone computers took over the market because of lower pricing. Cubic CT, a dual language and multimedia computers were then introduce to the Singapore market to beat the clone competition in 1986. The Cubic CT failed in becoming a commercial success.
Following the failure of Cubic CT, Sim moved to California in 1988, recognising that United States was fast becoming a hub for the technology revolution. There he established a subsidiary – Creative Lab which produced and introduced a sound card known as the Game Blaster. The Game Blaster provided stereo sound to PC-compatible computers and it was an instant success. Creative followed up with this success in November 1989 with its newest sound card the Sound Blaster.
The Sound Blaster was the number one-selling computer add-on product by the end of 1990. The company's position in the PC industry was cemented when the new-generation Soundblaster Pro sound cards were adopted as the industry's multimedia standard in 1991. All games and sound cards were required to be compatible with the Soundblaster.
In 1992, Creative Technology was the first company to be listed in the NASDAQ Exchange. Towards the end of that decade, Sim Wong Hoo who
Creative Technology is a publicly listed, Singapore-based company founded in July 1981 by a Singaporean Sim Wong Hoo and is a market leader in digital entertainment products.
He first set up a small shop in Singapore together with his classmates; developing and selling add on memory boards for Apple II computers and later began building Personal Computers for retail with initial start-up of $6000 from Sim’s own savings. Their vision was that multimedia would revolutionise the way people interact with their personal computers.
Creative introduced Cubic 99, the first personal computer to be designed and produced in Singapore in 1984 confident that it will be a hit with the mass market. However, within two years, clone computers took over the market because of lower pricing. Cubic CT, a dual language and multimedia computers were then introduce to the Singapore market to beat the clone competition in 1986. The Cubic CT failed in becoming a commercial success.
Following the failure of Cubic CT, Sim moved to California in 1988, recognising that United States was fast becoming a hub for the technology revolution. There he established a subsidiary – Creative Lab which produced and introduced a sound card known as the Game Blaster. The Game Blaster provided stereo sound to PC-compatible computers and it was an instant success. Creative followed up with this success in November 1989 with its newest sound card the Sound Blaster.
The Sound Blaster was the number one-selling computer add-on product by the end of 1990. The company's position in the PC industry was cemented when the new-generation Soundblaster Pro sound cards were adopted as the industry's multimedia standard in 1991. All games and sound cards were required to be compatible with the Soundblaster.
In 1992, Creative Technology was the first company to be listed in the NASDAQ Exchange. Towards the end of that decade, Sim Wong Hoo who