Creative Technology CEO and person behind Sound Blaster sound cards has passed away

The CEO of Singaporean company Creative Technology has died. Sim Wong Hoo was the founder of the company, which became best known in the 1990s for its Sound Blaster sound cards. He was 67 years old.

The current board of directors of Creative Technology writes It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Sim Wong Hoo passed away peacefully on January 4. The board also expresses great gratitude for the ‘immense contributions’ that Sim has made to the company during his time as chairman and CEO. On the Creative Technology website stands that he will be greatly missed and that as a visionary, inventor and entrepreneur he ‘gave the PC a voice’.

The company’s current interim CEO, Song Siow Hui, says the following about Sim. “I have known and worked with Mr. Sim for more than 30 years. This is a sad and sudden development and we feel a great loss, especially as Mr. Sim and I have recently had extensive discussions about the future of the company. During those conversations Mr. Sim had an innovative vision. Even the night before, he had a long discussion with the engineering team and a meeting with the online sales team was scheduled for the next day.”

Sim founded the company in 1981 and has served as chairman and CEO since then. The company, known in the United States as Creative Labs, introduced the Creative Music System in 1987 and the Sound Blaster sound cards in 1989. These sound cards were very successful at the time and that was partly the reason for the bankruptcy of competitor Ad Lib in 1992. Later, separate sound cards became less popular due to the arrival of integrated audio chips and the company then focused more on other products, such as the Super X-Fi technology. Creative Technology is also known for the patent battle against Apple, which focused on the iPod. In 2006, a $100 million settlement was reached in that case.