Creative Technology
Creative Technology Ltd., or Creative Labs Pte Ltd.,[3] is a Singaporean multinational technology company. The principal activities of the company and its subsidiaries consist of the design, manufacture and distribution of digitized sound and video boards, computers and related multimedia and personal digital entertainment products. It also partners with mainboard manufacturers and laptop brands to embed its Sound Blaster technology on their products.[4]
Company type
Consumer electronics
1 July 1981
- Sim Wong Hoo
- Ng Kai Wa
31 International Business Park Rd, Lobby C, #03-01, Creative Resource, Singapore 609921
Worldwide
800 (2012)[2]
- ZiiLABS, 3Dlabs and Sensaura (merged)
- E-mu Systems and Ensoniq (merged)
- Cambridge SoundWorks
The company also has overseas offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Dublin and the Silicon Valley. It has been listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) since 1994.[5]
History[edit]
1981–1996[edit]
Creative Technology was founded in 1981 by childhood friends and Ngee Ann Polytechnic schoolmates Sim Wong Hoo and Ng Kai Wa. Originally a computer repair shop in Pearl's Centre in Chinatown, the company eventually developed an add-on memory board for the Apple II computer. Later, Creative spent $500,000 developing the Cubic CT, an IBM-compatible PC adapted for the Chinese language and featuring multimedia features like enhanced color graphics and a built-in audio board capable of producing speech and melodies. With lack of demand for multilingual computers and few multimedia software applications available, the Cubic was a commercial failure.