New chief Sim Li Ern&rsquo s main task is to convince investors that the company still has viable businesses

 

[SINGAPORE] Sim Li Ern, the nephew of the late Creative Technology founder Sim Wong Hoo who died in 2023, has his work cut out for him. 

 

The 47-year-old was appointed earlier this month as chief executive officer of the electronics company where he has worked since 2002. And he has big shoes to fill.

 

After all, in an alternate universe, we could all be listening to Zencasts &ndash instead of Podcasts &ndash on Spotify.

 

The term &ldquo podcast&rdquo was coined as a blend of Apple&rsquo s popular &ldquo iPod&rdquo and radio &ldquo broadcast&rdquo . But older Singaporeans will remember a time when local company Creative Technology had a portable media player &ndash the Creative Zen &ndash that rivalled the Apple iPod.

 

Creative&rsquo s Zen enjoyed a strong foothold in Asia, especially in its home ground in Singapore. 

 

This battle for MP3 player supremacy culminated in a legal tussle. 

 

Creative held a patent on a music management interface that was commonly seen on audio players, including the Apple iPod. The two companies eventually reached a settlement, with Apple paying US$100 million to Creative.

 

But while Creative won this battle, it lost the war.

 

Instead of engaging in an expensive, direct head-to-head competition with Apple, Creative joined the &ldquo Made for iPod&rdquo programme and started to make iPod accessory products as a way to grow revenue. 

 

To some observers, this was seen as a subtle bowing to the iPod&rsquo s dominance. And interest in the Zen slowly tapered off.

 

But the Zen was not the first product that Singapore&rsquo s tech legend Sim Wong Hoo was famous for. 

 

Creative&rsquo s Sound Blaster, a stand-alone sound card for personal computers &ndash among the first to be widely available to general consumers &ndash dominated the PC audio market until the 2000s.

 

And it was certainly not the last great invention from the Singapore home-grown company.

 

In 2012, Creative launched the HanZpad, a tablet powered by its own chips &ndash made by subsidiary ZiiLabs &ndash that took aim at China&rsquo s sizeable education market. There were reports that it was also widely adopted in Singapore schools.

 

In 2018, the company marked its return to the consumer audio space it once dominated with the Super X-Fi. The award-winning audio technology uses computational audio and artificial intelligence to create a &ldquo holographic&rdquo , immersive headphone experience.

 

The product was launched to much fanfare, and triggered a surge in Creative&rsquo s share price.

 

The counter in 2018 surged more than 250 per cent, sparking hopes of a Creative revival in the market.

 

Bizarrely, Creative has now divested its Super X-Fi assets &ndash including intellectual property (IP) rights and inventory &ndash to a spin-off entity for US$5 million.

 

The spin-off entity, Zeica Labs, was set up by an unnamed &ldquo management employee&rdquo who was responsible for overseeing the Super X-Fi business and intends to pursue a business venture involving Super X-Fi technology.

 

The company announced on Thursday (Jan 15) that, following the completion of the transaction, it now holds 40 per cent equity interest in Zeica.

 

Creative said in an announcement last August that this divestment was in line with its strategic direction to &ldquo streamline its businesses&rdquo and &ldquo unlock value from certain portions of its IP portfolio&rdquo .

 

But if there is any lesson from the fact that the world is now listening to Podcasts instead of Zencasts, perhaps it is that Creative might be better off not giving up on its IP.

 

And as the company continues to chalk up losses &ndash it has not turned a profit in any full-year period since FY2016 &ndash the main task for new CEO Sim Li Ern to ensure that his uncle&rsquo s legacy continues is to convince investors that Creative still has viable businesses.

The 47-year-old has worked at the company since 2002

[SINGAPORE] The nephew of   Creative   : C76 +0.85% Technology&rsquo s late founder Sim Wong Hoo has been appointed as its new chief executive officer, the Singapore-listed company said in a bourse filing on Monday (Jan 5). 

 

Effective on Jan 5, Sim Li Ern will take the reins from interim CEO Tan Jok Tin &ndash who will also be stepping down from his role as executive chairman. 

 

Tan, 73, had taken on the interim role in July 2025 when then-CEO Freddy Sim, younger brother of the late founder, stepped down for health reasons shortly after assuming the top post in May 2025. 

 

The 47-year-old Sim Li Ern, who has worked at the company since 2002, previously held roles as vice-president of sales and marketing, and regional sales manager for Asia at the company. He has also served as a non-executive and non-independent director on the board. 

 

He is listed as an administrator of the estate of his late uncle, who died in 2023. According to the bourse filing, he has a direct interest of 22,750 shares in the company, and an interest of 22,408,776 shares of the company held by his uncle&rsquo s estate.

 

The company in August 2025 posted a US$4.4 million net loss for the six months ended June 2025, narrowing from the US$6.8 million loss in the year-ago period, as costs fell with lay-offs.

 

For the full year, it posted a US$10.5 million net loss, slightly lower than the year-ago&rsquo s US$10.8 million loss. 

 

Creative Technology signed a sale and leaseback agreement for its Jurong headquarters in 2008 with a sale price of around $250 million then.

 

Creative reported losses but improved results due to layoffs of 14% of their workforce, while facing challenging market conditions and potential tariff impacts.

Tan has been in the interim role since July, when Freddy Sim stepped down as chief for health reasons

 

[SINGAPORE] Creative Technology on Friday (Nov 21) announced that its interim chief executive officer and executive chairman Tan Jok Tin will be stepping down on Jan 15 next year.

 

The company did not name a replacement. It had earlier announced in July that it will look for a new CEO.

 

Tan, 73, took on the interim role in July when then CEO Freddy Sim stepped down for health reasons shortly after taking on the top job in May. Tan had also served as interim CEO between February and May 2025, following the retirement of former Creative Technology CEO Song Siow Hui.

 

Sim has remained as Creative&rsquo s non-executive, non-independent director after stepping down. He is the younger brother of the company&rsquo s founder Sim Wong Hoo, who died in 2023.

 

Creative said that Tan will focus on other business and personal commitments. He is currently an independent director at China&rsquo s SuSing Fund Management.

 

At the technology group, he has been in the executive chairman role since September 2024 and has overseen the execution of the business and corporate strategy decisions made by the board. He has also been responsible for the overall operations of Creative&rsquo s businesses.

 

The company in August posted a US$4.4 million net loss for the six months ended June, narrowing from the US$6.8 million loss in the year-ago period, as costs fell with lay-offs.

 

For the full year, it posted a US$10.5 million net loss, slightly lower than the year-ago&rsquo s US$10.8 million loss.