Creative Technology’s founder and CEO, Sim Wong Hoo, has passed away, marking the end of an era he carved with his never-ending entrepreneurial spirit. A name long synonymous with Singapore’s evolving technology, Wong will be remembered not only for putting the country on the global map but also for his undying passion and determination to overcome adversity.
in one SGX profile Thursday, Creative said Sim passed away on January 4 and appointed current Creative Labs president Song Siow Hui as interim CEO. The company’s independent non-executive director Lee Kheng Nam has been appointed acting chairman.
Describing Sim’s departure as a “sudden and sad development”, Song said he “recently had extensive discussions” with Sim about Creative’s future direction, including a discussion with a group of engineers the night before his death. They arranged a meeting with the online sales team the next day, revealed Song, who has worked with Sim for more than three decades.
He added that he will work to ensure Creative “continues to run smoothly” and advance Sim’s vision and strategy for the company.
According to the statement, details of Sim’s decommissioning will be provided in a separate notice, at the request of publicly listed companies under the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Sim, 67, founded Creative in 1981 and has served as president and chief executive officer ever since.
“Under his guidance, the company has become known for its Sound Blaster sound card and is a world leader in digital entertainment products,” Creative said in the statement, adding. that their product portfolio now includes wireless speakers and headphones, audiophile and digital grade amplifiers. audio converter.
His passion is steadfast, tenacious
Since the news broke, the feeds on my LinkedIn and Facebook pages have been flooded with tributes, mostly citing Sim’s inspiring work in the digital audio and role-playing space. pioneering role in Singapore’s tech entrepreneur community. Ask anyone here (of a generation old enough to know) to name a local tech brand, and they’ll most likely point to the man behind Creative and Sound Blaster.
According to Sim, who took the US company to court in 2006 for patent infringement, the technology back then was so innovative that at least Apple copied it. In reality, Sim recognizes Apple’s success in Innovative technology He said was copied in Apple’s iPod, which later evolved to become the iPhone.
The two companies later settled their legal dispute when Apple agrees to pay $100 million for a patent license using Creative’s decentralized user interface found in the later Zen music player.
In the end, it was Apple’s enormous success with the iPod coupled with increasing competition in the market that finally brought down Creative’s stronghold in the digital audio space. In the years that followed, the Singaporean company persevered and continued to launch new products, including its AI-powered Super X-Fi technology.
However, Creative never regained its early glory days. Net revenue for fiscal year 2022 down 27% year-over-year, impacted by shipping disruptions, global chip shortages, pandemic-related market conditions and the Ukraine conflict. The company’s net sales fell 23% in Asia-Pacific, 34% in the Americas and 27% in Europe.
Despite the difficult backdrop, and perhaps surprising some, Creative is still growing.
Sim, by his own admission, believes that just being able to survive in the market is enough. once described Singapore as a harsh environment for entrepreneurship. Even so, he remains steadfast in his desire to continue to focus on his hometown and nurture local talent.
I don’t have many opportunities to meet Sims because Creative is in a market where I don’t have much experience, but I am a loyal user of Zen products. Picky about sound quality, I’ve chosen to stick with MP3 players for generations even as products like the iPod hit the market, because the rich clarity and richness that Zen produces is unmatched. but at that time.
A graduate of electrical and electronic engineering, Sim is known for his love of music, which may explain why he founded Creative. Described as a mild-mannered, if not a bit eccentric at times boss, he has an outgoing personality, who has been spotted alongside his employees. customer service.
Over the years, I’ve heard many personal stories and anecdotes from others about the brains behind Creative. In one of these, he instructed his engineering team to disassemble a high-end digital piano built by a major instrument manufacturer so they could study the acoustic technology used in the production. Products. Their efforts at “reverse engineering” apparently backfired spectacularly when his team couldn’t figure out how to put the parts back in their proper places and he had to ask for help. manufacturer help to do it.
I heard that story years ago, and I can’t be sure of its authenticity, but it’s befitting a man with an enduring passion like Sim.
in other media interview, he advises aspiring entrepreneurs not to get married because doing so means they can’t take risks. A single person himself, he says having mortgages and a family is a distraction as entrepreneurs need focus and commitment to succeed.
When asked what motivated him, Sim said in a 2020 interview with CNBC: “It’s important to make a difference to the world…Since I was young, I’ve always wanted to be. I’ve always wanted to make the world a better place for everyone and that’s it. why I’m creative If you look back in the history of Creative, there are many times when a lot of people including my close brothers and sisters say you will never get over this because it’s too much. hard, too hard, you’ll fail, you’ll fail.. Somehow, we get through. Somehow, we make it through.
“So you’re trying to go through a wall, but you can’t go through because it’s a wall. So I looked for cracks. So there’s a crack there, I got through that crack and I managed.”
Sim more than management. He overcame the wall and paved the way for other aspiring Singaporean entrepreneurs to follow. While Creative’s light may no longer shine as brightly as it once did, Sim will always remain one of the country’s brightest tech pioneers.
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