Sim Wong Hoo
Sim Wong Hoo, Singapore’s technology pioneer and Chairman and CEO of Creative Technology, passed away on Wednesday.
He was 67.
Wong Hoo founded Creative in 1981 and has played crucial role in developing the business.
Creative started with the vision that multimedia would revolutionise how people interact with their PCs. It is now famous for its Sound Blaster sound cards. It drives digital entertainment with cutting-edge audio solutions, premium wireless speakers, high-performance earphone products and portable media devices.
Since launching Sound Blaster, Creative has leveraged its leading-edge audio technology, a huge user base of 400 million, and strong brand name to expand into the exciting lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment (PDE) market.
Today, Creative sells Sound BlasterAxx audio enhancement devices and solutions, Creative D5xm Signature Series of modular Bluetooth wireless speakers, Aurvana premium headsets, Sound Blaster wireless gaming headsets, and cross-platform Sound Blaster Recon3D for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC or Mac.
Creative’s global corporate headquarters is located in Singapore, and it has business units in the US (Milpitas, California), Europe (Dublin, Ireland) and Asia (Singapore).
In 1992, Creative became the first Singaporean company to list shares on the Nasdaq. Two years later, the firm listed its shares on the main board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Six years, Wong Hoo became the city-state’s youngest billionaire.
In 2006, he sued Apple for patent infringements over the iPod. The US tech giant later settled the lawsuit by paying him US$100 million and licensing his patent.
Following Wong Hoo’s demise, the Creative Technology board has appointed Song Siow Hui, President of the Creative Labs Business Unit, as interim CEO.
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