Examine individual changes

'{{third-party|date=March 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date = March 2019}} {{Use Singapore English|date = March 2019}} {{Infobox company | name = Creative Technology Ltd. | logo = Creative_Technology_company_logo.svg | type = [[Public company|Public]] ({{Sgx|C76}}) | genre = | foundation = {{start date and age|1981|7|1|df=y}} | founder = [[Sim Wong Hoo]]<br />[[Ng Kai Wa]] | location_city = [[Jurong East]] | location_country = [[Singapore]] | location = | locations = | area_served = Worldwide | key_people = [[Sim Wong Hoo]] <small>([[CEO]])</small><br />Ng Keh Long <small>([[CFO]])</small> | industry = Consumer electronics | products = [[Multimedia]], [[Information Technology|IT]], [[Consumer electronics]] | services = | revenue = {{decrease}} {{US$|link=yes}}66.1 million <small>(2018)</small><ref name="CREATIVE Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Report">{{Cite web|url=https://www.creative.com/corporate/investor/files/AR/fy18.pdf|title=CREATIVE Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Report}}</ref> | operating_income = | net_income = {{increase}} {{US$|link=yes}}40.4 million <small>(2018)</small><ref name="CREATIVE Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Report"/> | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = 800 <small>(2012)</small><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hoovers.com/company/Creative_Technology_Ltd/ctkjji-1.html |title=Creative Technology Ltd. &#124; Company profile from Hoover's |publisher=Hoovers.com |date= |accessdate=2010-11-11}}</ref> | parent = | divisions = | subsid = [[ZiiLABS]], [[E-mu Systems]] and [[Ensoniq]] (merged), [[Cambridge SoundWorks]] | caption = | homepage = {{URL|www.creative.com}} | footnotes = }} '''Creative Technology Ltd.''' (known as '''Creative Labs''' in the United States) is a global technology company headquartered in [[Jurong East]], [[Singapore]] with additional offices in [[Silicon Valley]], [[Dublin]], [[Tokyo]], and [[Shanghai]]. 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creative.com/oem/partner/pt_sc.asp|title=Creative OEM Partners|author=(C) Creative Labs 1999-2015|publisher=|accessdate=17 April 2015}}</ref> == History == {{Overly detailed|date=October 2015|section=yes}} === 1981–1996 === 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, Singapore|Chinatown]], the company eventually developed an add-on memory board for the [[Apple II family|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. [[Image:Creative_Music_System.jpg|thumb|Creative Music System sound card]] Shifting focus from language to music, Creative developed the Creative Music System, a PC add-on card. Sim established Creative Labs, Inc. in the United States' [[Silicon Valley]] and convinced software developers to support the sound card, re-named Game Blaster and marketed by [[RadioShack|RadioShack's]] [[Tandy Corporation|Tandy]] division. The success of this audio interface led to the development of the standalone [[Sound Blaster]] [[sound card]], introduced at the 1989 [[COMDEX]] show just as the multimedia PC market, fueled by Intel's 386 card and Windows 3.0, took off. The success of Sound Blaster helped grow Creative's revenue from $5.4 million USD in 1989 to $658 million USD in 1994.<ref name="DedrickKraemer1998">{{cite book|author1=Jason Dedrick|author2=Kenneth L. Kraemer|title=Asia's Computer Challenge: Threat or Opportunity for the United States and the World?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ceCt71aib4C|date=20 August 1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-535280-1|pages=179–180}}</ref> In 1993, the year after Creative’s Initial Public Offering, in 1992, former [[Ashton-Tate]] CEO Ed Esber joined Creative Labs as CEO to assemble a management team to support the company’s rapid growth. Esber brought in a team of US executives, including Rich Buchanan (graphics), Gail Pomerantz (marketing), and Rich Sorkin (sound products, and later communications, OEM and business development).<ref>http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Esber_Edward/Esber_Edward.oral_history.2004.102657944.pdf</ref> This group played key roles in reversing a brutal market share decline caused by intense competition from Mediavision at the high end and Aztech at the low end. Sorkin, in particular, dramatically strengthened the company's brand position through crisp licensing and an aggressive defense of Creative's intellectual property positions while working to shorten product development cycles. At the same time, Esber and the original founders of the company had differences of opinion on the strategy and positioning of the company. Esber exited in 1995, followed quickly by Buchanan and Pomerantz. Following Esber’s departure, Sorkin was promoted to General Manager of Audio and Communications Products and later Executive Vice-President of Business Development and Corporate Investments, before leaving Creative in 1996 to run [[Elon Musk|Elon Musk’s]] first startup and internet pioneer [[Zip2]]. By 1996, Creative's revenues had peaked at $1.6 billion USD. With pioneering investments in [[VOIP]] and media streaming, Creative was well-positioned to take advantage of the internet era, but ventured into the CD-ROM market and was eventually forced to write off nearly $100 million USD in inventory when the market collapsed due to a flood of cheaper alternatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/technology/2000/0929/acom.cover.html|title=Asiaweek.com - Technology - Creative's Genius - 9/29/2000|publisher=|accessdate=17 April 2015}}</ref> === 1997–present === The firm had maintained a strong foothold in the [[Extended Industry Standard Architecture|EISA]] PC audio market until 14 July 1997 when [[Aureal Semiconductor]] entered the soundcard market with their very competitive [[Peripheral Component Interconnect|PCI]] AU8820 Vortex 3D sound technology. The firm at the time was in development of their own in house PCI audio cards but were finding little success adopting to the PCI standard. In January 1998 in order to quickly facilitate a working PCI audio technology, the firm made the acquisition of [[Ensoniq]] for US$77 million. On March 5, 1998 the firm sued Aureal<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aureal.com/cgi-bin/pub/display.pl?template=press_aur_detail.htm&serial=76|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990829025202/http://www.aureal.com/cgi-bin/pub/display.pl?template=press_aur_detail.htm&serial=76|dead-url=yes|archive-date=29 August 1999|title=Internet Archive Wayback Machine|date=29 August 1999|publisher=}}</ref> with patent infringement claims over a MIDI caching technology<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dspwiki.com/index.php?title=Creative_Labs_v._Aureal|title=Creative Labs v. Aureal|publisher=|accessdate=17 April 2015|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203120118/http://dspwiki.com/index.php?title=Creative_Labs_v._Aureal|archivedate=3 February 2015|df=}}</ref> held by [[E-mu Systems]]. Aureal filed a counterclaim<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/04/01/writs_fly_as_aureal_countersues/|title=Writs fly as Aureal countersues Creative Technologies|publisher=|accessdate=17 April 2015}}</ref> stating the firm was intentionally interfering with its business prospects, had defamed them, commercially disparaged, engaged in [[unfair competition]] with intent to slow down Aureals sales and acted fraudulently. The suit had come only days after Aureal gained a fair market with the AU8820 Vortex1. In August 1998 the [[Sound Blaster Live!]] was the firm's first sound card developed for the [[Peripheral Component Interconnect|PCI]] bus in order to compete with upcoming Aureal AU8830 Vortex2 sound chip.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Aureal+Welcomes+Creative+Labs+to+Competitive+Marketplace.-a053377442|title=Aureal Welcomes Creative Labs to Competitive Marketplace.|publisher=|accessdate=17 April 2015}}</ref> Aureal at this time were making fliers comparing their new AU8830 chips to the now shipping [[Sound Blaster Live!]]. The specifications within these fliers comparing the AU8830 to the [[Sound Blaster Live!]] EMU10K1 chip sparked another flurry of lawsuits against Aureal,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Creative+Files+False+Advertising+and+Other+Claims+Against+Aureal.-a053046886|title=Creative Files False Advertising and Other Claims Against Aureal.|publisher=|accessdate=17 April 2015}}</ref> this time claiming Aureal had falsely advertised the [[Sound Blaster Live!]]'s capabilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/207084396/A3D30prm|title=A3D30prm|publisher=|accessdate=17 April 2015}}</ref> In December 1999 after numerous lawsuits, Aureal won a favourable ruling but went bankrupt as a result of legal costs and their investors pulling out. Their assets were acquired by Creative through the [[bankruptcy court]] in September 2000 for US$32 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://alive.singnet.com.sg/features/aureal-creative.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010054918/http://alive.singnet.com.sg/features/aureal-creative.htm|title=ALive!|archivedate=10 October 2007|publisher=|accessdate=17 April 2015}}</ref> The firm had in effect removed their only major direct competitor in the 3D gaming audio market, excluding their later acquisition of [[Sensaura]]. In April 1999, the firm launched the [[Creative NOMAD|NOMAD]] line of [[digital audio player]]s that would later introduce the [[Creative MuVo|MuVo]] and [[Creative ZEN|ZEN]] series of [[portable media player]]s. In November 2004, the firm announced a $100 million marketing campaign to promote their digital audio products, including the [[Creative Zen|ZEN]] range of MP3 players.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith |first=Tony |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/18/creative_vs_apple/ |title=The Register "Creative declares war on iPod", 18 November 2004 |publisher=Theregister.co.uk |date=2004-11-18 |accessdate=2010-11-11}}</ref> The firm applied for {{US patent|6928433}} on 5 January 2001 and was awarded the patent on 9 August 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creative.com/corporate/pressroom/?id=12175|title=Press Relations|publisher=|accessdate=17 April 2015}}</ref> The ZEN Patent was awarded to the firm for the invention of user interface for portable media players. This opened the way for potential legal action against Apple's iPod and the other competing players.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} The firm took legal actions against Apple in May 2006. In August, 2006, Creative and Apple entered into a broad settlement,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creative.com/corporate/pressroom/?id=12585|title=Press Relations|publisher=|accessdate=17 April 2015}}</ref> with Apple paying Creative $100 million for the licence to use the Zen patent.<ref name="bloomberg.com">{{cite web |title=A Steve Jobs Rival Who Hit Hard Times Makes Remarkable Comeback |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-20/a-steve-jobs-rival-who-hit-hard-times-makes-remarkable-comeback |website=Bloomberg |accessdate=21 March 2019}}</ref> The firm then joined the "Made for iPod" program. On 22 March 2005, ''[[The Inquirer]]'' reported that Creative Labs had agreed to settle in a [[class action lawsuit]] about the way its [[Audigy]] and Extigy soundcards were marketed. The firm offered customers who purchased the cards up to a $62.50 reduction on the cost of their next purchase of its products, while the lawyers involved in filing the dispute against Creative received a payment of approximately $470,000.<ref>{{cite news|first=Simon|last=Burns|title=Creative Labs owes you $62|date=2005-03-22|publisher=The Inquirer|url=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1024547/creative-labs-owes-usd62|accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref> In 2007, Creative voluntarily delisted itself from [[NASDAQ]], where it had the symbol of CREAF.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://creative.com/corporate/pressroom/releases/welcome.asp?pid=12796|title=Creative Technology Announces Completion of Its Voluntary Delisting from Nasdaq - Company's Sole Exchange Listing Now On the SGX-ST|date=2007-09-04|accessdate=2008-01-01|publisher=Creative|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204214306/http://www.creative.com/corporate/pressroom/releases/welcome.asp?pid=12796|archivedate=2008-12-04|df=}}</ref> Its stocks are now solely on the [[Singapore Exchange]] (SGX-ST). In early 2008, Creative Labs' technical support centre, located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, US laid off several technical support staff, furthering ongoing concerns surrounding Creative's financial situation. Later that year, the company faced a public-relations backlash when it demanded that a user named "Daniel_K" cease distributing modified versions of drivers for Windows Vista which restored functionality that had been available in drivers for Windows XP.<ref>{{cite news|first=Joel|last=Hruska|title=Creative irate after modder spruces up Vista X-Fi drivers|date=2008-03-31|publisher=Ars Technica|url=https://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080331-creative-irate-after-modder-spruces-up-vista-x-fi-drivers.html|accessdate =2018-01-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Chris |last=Walters |title=Creative Sparks Customer Revolt When It Tries To Silence Third-Party Programmer |date=2008-03-31 |publisher=The Consumerist |url=https://consumerist.com/2008/03/31/creative-sparks-customer-revolt-when-it-tries-to-silence-third-party-programmer/ |accessdate=2018-01-18 }}</ref> The company deleted his account from its online forums but reinstated it a week later.<ref>{{cite news|first=Carey|last=Alexander|title=Creative Backs Down, Reinstates Spurned Developer|date=2008-04-05|publisher=The Consumerist|url=https://consumerist.com/2008/04/05/creative-backs-down-reinstates-spurned-developer/|accessdate=2018-01-18|}}</ref> In January 2009, the firm generated internet buzz with a mysterious website<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zii.com|title=Zii|publisher=|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115202044/http://www.zii.com/|archivedate=2009-01-15|df=}}</ref> promising a "stem cell-like" processor which would give a 100-fold increase in supercomputing power over current technology, as well as advances in consumer 3D graphics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2008/12/26/creatives-zii-stemcell-computing-is-not-likely-to-be-awesome |title=Creative's Zii "Stemcell Computing" is not likely to be awesome |publisher=Engadget.com |date= |accessdate=2010-11-11}}</ref> At [[Consumer Electronics Show|CES]] 2009, it was revealed to be the ZMS-05 processor from [[ZiiLABS]], a subsidiary formed from the combining of [[3DLabs]] and Creative's Personal Digital Entertainment division.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2009/01/08/creative-unveils-zii |title=Creative unveils Zii |publisher=Engadget.com |date= |accessdate=2010-11-11}}</ref> In November 2012, the firm announced it has entered into an agreement with [[Intel Corporation]] for Intel to licence technology and patents from ZiiLABS Inc. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Creative, and acquire engineering resources and assets related to its UK branch as a part of a $50 million deal. [[ZiiLABS]] (still wholly owned by Creative) continues to retain all ownership of its StemCell media processor technologies and patents, and will continue to supply and support its ZMS series of chips to its customers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.creative.com/corporate/pressroom/releases/welcome.asp?pid=13300 |title=Creative to license technology and patents to Intel as part of a us$50 million deal |publisher=Creative Technology Ltd |date= |accessdate=2012-11-19 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121129222355/http://www.creative.com/corporate/pressroom/releases/welcome.asp?pid=13300 |archivedate=2012-11-29 |df= }}</ref> At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January 2018, its Super X-Fi dongle won the Best of CES 2018 Award by AVS Forum.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/creative-ceo-super-x-fi-audio-tech-more-revolutionary-colour-tv|title=Creative CEO: Super X-Fi audio tech more revolutionary than colour TV|date=2018-03-19|work=The New Paper|access-date=2018-04-10|language=en}}</ref> The product was launched after more than $100 million in investment and garnered positive analyst reports.<ref name="bloomberg.com"/> The company is still producing Chinese-language and bilingual software for the [[Singapore]] market, however nearly half of the company's income is generated in the United States and South America; the European Union represents 32% of revenues, with [[Asia]] making the remainder.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/creative-technology-ltd-history/|title=Creative Technology Ltd history |website=Fundinguniverse |access-date=21 March 2019}}</ref> ==Products== ===Sound Blaster=== {{main|Sound Blaster}} [[File:Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1.jpg|thumb|Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1]] Creative Sound Blaster is one of the most recognized names in the PC audio market. Creative's [[Sound Blaster]] [[sound card]] was among the first dedicated audio processing cards to be made widely available to the general consumer. As the first to bundle what is now considered to be a part of a sound card system: digital audio, on-board music synthesizer, MIDI interface and a joystick port, Sound Blaster rose to become a [[de facto]] standard for sound cards in PCs for many years. Creative Technology have made their own file format [[Creative Voice file|Creative Voice]] which have [[file format]] <code>.voc</code> In 1987 Creative Technology released the ''Creative Music System'' (C/MS), a 12-voice sound card for the [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] architecture. When C/MS struggled to acquire market share, Sim traveled from Singapore to [[Silicon Valley]] and negotiated a deal with [[RadioShack]]'s [[Tandy Corporation|Tandy]] division to market the product as the ''Game Blaster'',.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2004-06-28-sim_x.htm|title=Creative's name describes CEO|publisher=USA Today|date=2004-06-28|accessdate=2008-03-31|last=Graham|first=Jefferson}}</ref> While the Game Blaster did not overcome [[AdLib|AdLib's]] sound card market dominance, Creative used the platform to create the first [[Sound Blaster]], which retained CM/S hardware and added the [[Yamaha YM3812]] chip found on the AdLib card, as well as adding a component for playing and recording digital samples. Creative aggressively marketed the "stereo" aspect of the Sound Blaster (only the C/MS chips were capable of stereo, not the complete product) to calling the sound producing micro-controller a "DSP," hoping to associate the product with a [[digital signal processor]] (the DSP could encode/decode ADPCM in real time, but otherwise had no other DSP-like qualities). Monaural Sound Blaster cards were introduced in 1989, and Sound Blaster Pro stereo cards followed in 1992. The 16-bit [[Sound Blaster AWE32]] added Wavetable MIDI, and [[Sound Blaster AWE64|AWE64]] offered 32 and 64 voices. Sound Blaster achieved competitive control of the PC audio market by 1992, the same year that its main competitor, Ad Lib, Inc., went bankrupt.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pcper.com/category/tags/ad-lib|title=ad lib &#124; PC Perspective|website=www.pcper.com}}</ref> In the mid-1990s, following the launch of the Sound Blaster 16 and related products, Creative Technologies' audio revenue grew from US$40 million to nearly $1 billion annually. The sixth generation of Sound Blaster sound cards introduced SBX Pro Studio, a feature that restores the highs and lows of compressed audio files, enhancing detail and clarity. SBX Pro Studio also offers user settings for controlling bass and virtual surround.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creative.com/audiomadeclever/what-is-sbx-pro-studio|title=Audio Made Clever :: What is SBX Pro Studio?|work=Audio Made Clever|accessdate=17 April 2015}}</ref> === Creative X-Fi Sonic Carrier === The Creative X-Fi Sonic Carrier, launched in January 2016, consists of a long main unit and a subwoofer that houses 17 drivers in an 11.2.4 speaker configuration. It incorporates [[Dolby Atmos]] surround processing, and also features Creative's EAX 15.2 Dimensional Audio to extract, enhance and upscale sound from legacy material. The audio and video engine of the X-Fi Sonic Carrier are powered by 7 processors with a total of 14 cores. It supports both local and streaming video content at up to 4K 60fps, as well as 15.2 channels of high resolution audio playback. It also comes with 3 distinct wireless technologies that allow multi-room Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a zero-latency speaker-to-speaker link to up to 4 subwoofer units.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.creative.com/corporate/pressroom/?id=13494|title=Press Relations|website=www.creative.com|access-date=2016-03-04}}</ref> ===Other products=== * Headphones * Gaming headsets * Portable Bluetooth speakers * Creative GigaWorks [[ProGamer G500]] speakers ===Discontinued products=== * [[Compact Disc|CD]] and [[DVD]] players, drives, and controller cards * [[Graphics card]]s * [[Prodikeys]], a [[computer keyboard]]-[[musical keyboard]] combination * [[Mouse (computing)|Optical mice]] and [[Keyboard (computing)|keyboards]] * [[Creative Vado|VadoHDs]] * [[Creative MuVo]]s == See also == [[File:Creativelabs.jpg|thumb|180px|Creative Labs office in [[Milpitas, California]]]] * [[AdLib]] * [[Aureal Semiconductor]] * [[Ensoniq]] * [[Environmental audio extensions]] * [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]] === Divisions and brands === * [[Cambridge SoundWorks]] * [[Creative MuVo]] * [[Creative NOMAD]] * [[Creative ZEN]] * [[E-mu Systems]] * [[Sound Blaster]] * [[SoundFont]] * [[Sensaura]] * [[ZiiLABS]], formerly [[3dlabs]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} == External links == {{commons category|Creative Technology}} * {{official|https://www.creative.com}} {{Creative Technology}} [[Category:Creative Technology Limited| ]] [[Category:Companies formerly listed on NASDAQ]] [[Category:Companies listed on the Singapore Exchange]] [[Category:Computer companies established in 1981]] [[Category:Computer peripheral companies]] [[Category:Design companies established in 1981]] [[Category:Electronics companies established in 1981]] [[Category:Headphones manufacturers]] [[Category:Loudspeaker manufacturers]] [[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1981]] [[Category:Multinational companies headquartered in Singapore]] [[Category:Portable audio player manufacturers]] [[Category:Singaporean brands]] [[Category:Singaporean companies established in 1981]]'