Creative 2003 Annual Report Download - page 4

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product lines and our business with the goal of extending our leadership position in the PDE market – a market we
pioneered. We believe there are long term growth opportunities as we continue to introduce PDE products with great
visual ID and award-winning functionality that work with and away from the PC.
We have significantly expanded the breadth of our product lines, with the introduction of more new products than in any
other period in our history. In the first half of the new fiscal year, we plan to launch over 90 products, the most in our
history, across all of our product categories. With the launch of these new products, we have what is probably our most
exciting and innovative line of products to date.
The new products that I am most excited and proud of include the Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX, NOMAD
MuVo NX, NOMAD MuVo2, and the Creative I-Trigue™ L3500/L3450 speakers.
The Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX, is our flagship hard disk-based, pocket-size digital audio player. It is the
slimmest, lightest NOMAD Jukebox ever, with huge storage capacity of 20GB, 30GB or 60GB, and superfast USB 2.0
connectivity. The stylish NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX can store tens of thousands of MP3 and WMA songs and play back
high-fidelity music at 98dB SNR for up to 14 hours on one full battery charge. Our patented technology allows significantly
longer battery life than the competition, and the removable battery module allows the user to have even longer playtime
by carrying spares.
The tiny, flash memory-based NOMAD MuVo NX, introduced in July 2003, improves on the classic design of the original
NOMAD MuVo, and introduces a cool blue backlit LCD screen, a built-in microphone for voice recording, graphic
equalizer and other additions to the original feature set. The NOMAD MuVo NX can also be connected directly to Creative
speaker systems, such as the new Creative I-Trigue™ speaker line, via an M-PORT™ interface for instant music playback.
There are patents pending worldwide on the MuVo’s technology, and the US patent application was published by the
United States Patent & Trademark Office in September, 2003.
The NOMAD MuVo2 was launched in September, 2003 as a brand new line of ultra-compact and lightweight MP3 players,
available in both hard drive- and flash memory-based models. The hard drive-based model, the NOMAD MuVo2 1.5GB,
comes with 1.5GB storage capacity, and is Creative’s smallest hard-drive based MP3 player ever. The rugged flash memory
version, the NOMAD MuVo2 X-Trainer, comes with 512MB or 1GB capacity, and is designed specifically for the digital
music consumer with an active lifestyle. All versions are extremely compact and feature high-capacity removable and
rechargeable Li-Ion batteries, unparalleled audio quality, super fast USB 2.0 connectivity and simple drag and drop
functionality.
Creative made a big statement with its new Creative I-Trigue L3500/L3450 speakers, which combine an exterior design
that looks simply stunning with cutting-edge technology such as Lateral Firing Transducers for a wider soundstage and
richer listening experience. Each new Creative I-Trigue speaker system features bi-amplification for optimum performance
in specific frequency ranges and more accurate sound reproduction.
The full list of Creative’s new products is far too long to incorporate into this letter, but it includes many offerings in sound
cards, external audio, speakers, digital audio players, cameras, workstation graphics, communications, keyboards and mice.
To have a comprehensive view of the breadth and beauty of Creative’s products, I would like to invite you to visit the
Creativex Showroom at our Singapore Headquarters and our www.Creative.com web site.
Creative is now a much leaner company with an improved cost structure, yet our expanded product development capabilities
afford us the ability to respond rapidly to changes in business conditions and to pursue new business opportunities which
were not feasible with our previous cost structure. We are ready to focus on growth again through our remodeled product
lines and businesses. With a large majority of our many new products functioning external to the PC box, we are no longer
solely dependent on the PC market and add-in cards.
As we continue to move the company into new, higher growth markets outside of the PC box and our core audio product
category, the growth opportunities we see are not limited to our traditional retail channels, but also include opportunities
to further build our direct-to-consumer business, our OEM business, and to develop new ODM relationships. We believe
that with our new operating cost structure, we can aggressively pursue these OEM and ODM channels for incremental
revenue and profit — and we have already made progress on this front with a major customer.
We believe our downturn in revenues has bottomed out, and that we are now poised to reap the benefits of our hard work
over the past two years to remodel our product lines and businesses.
Yes. Creative is ready to live up to the challenge.
Sim Wong Hoo
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer