Creative Technology: The Sound Blaster
3 days ago
- #Entrepreneurship
- #Technology
- #Sound Cards
- Sim Wong Hoo was born on April 28, 1955, in Singapore, the tenth child in a family of twelve.
- He grew up in a kampung (village) called End of Coconut Hill in Bukit Panjang, helping with farm chores and selling eggs before school.
- Sim graduated from Bukit Panjang Government High School and later attended Ngee Ann Technical College for engineering.
- He founded Creative Technology on July 1, 1981, with childhood friend Ng Kai Wa, starting with computer repairs and parts sales.
- Creative's first major product was the Sound Blaster sound card, which became a market leader in PC audio.
- The company expanded globally, went public in 1992, and became the first Singaporean firm listed on NASDAQ.
- Creative faced competition in the sound card market but maintained dominance through innovation and acquisitions.
- The company ventured into other markets, including graphics cards, MP3 players (NOMAD series), and multimedia software, with mixed success.
- Creative acquired several companies, including Ensoniq and Aureal, to bolster its audio technology.
- Despite challenges, Creative remains active in the audio hardware market, focusing on sound cards, speakers, and headphones.