Creative 2009 Annual Report Download - page 3

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 3 of the 2009 Creative annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 64

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64

3
CREATIVE฀TECHNOLOGY฀LTD฀AND฀ITS฀SUBSIDIARIES
During the 2009 fiscal year, we repaid the entire US$100 million outstanding balance of our syndicated term loan. We are now
practically debt-free, with no bank borrowing and a strong balance sheet with over US$250 million in cash.
Notwithstanding the challenges from the adverse market conditions during the year, we continued with our research and
development efforts for our current product lines in areas that hold promise for the future, and introduced exciting new products
in each category.
In our audio business, we expanded our market potential, launching the Sound Blaster Wireless for iTunes together with Wireless
Receivers, the first time we have targeted the huge base of iTunes users on both the PC and the Mac. Sound Blaster Wireless
for iTunes allows users to significantly improve the audio quality of music, movies and games on their notebooks and play them
wirelessly through speakers in any room in the home. We also extended our Sound Blaster X-Fi product line by introducing
the PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series and the PCI Express Sound Blaster Titanium Fatal1ty
Champion Series sound cards. These high-performance sound cards unleashed the full power of our X-Fi technology and EAX
ADVANCED HD audio processing.
For the multimedia speaker business, we announced our highest-end GigaWorks T3 speaker system that delivers audio precision
in style. We also updated our main speaker offerings with the introduction of the GigaWorks T40 Series II and GigaWorks T20
Series II, and the Inspire T3200 and Inspire T6200 speaker systems.
For our headphone business, we introduced the ultra-lightweight and stylish Aurvana Air earphones, the latest addition to our
premium Aurvana designer earphone series. We also extended our earphone offerings with the introduction of the Creative EP-630
in-ear stereo earphones in a variety of fun and exciting colors, and the Creative EP-430 noise-isolating in-ear earphones.
For the PC gaming market, we unveiled the Sound Blaster Arena Surround USB Gaming Headset, the Creative Fatal1ty Professional
Series Gaming Headset Mk II and the Digital Wireless Gaming Headset HS-1200. These high-performance headsets provide
gamers with our advanced proprietary audio technologies to further enhance their gaming experiences.
To differentiate our MP3 players in a highly competitive global MP3 market, we added our X-Fi audio technology to the high
end of our product line with the introduction of the Creative ZEN X-Fi early in the fiscal year, followed by the Creative ZEN X-
Fi2 in September 2009. These are the only players that have award-winning X-Fi audio enhancement solutions that significantly
improve the quality of MP3 music playback.
We also introduced the Vado Pocket Video Cam, followed by the next generation Vado HD Pocket Video Cam. The user-friendly
Vado HD allows users to shoot videos in high definition, easily share them online, and play them back in true HD on an HDTV
with our HDMI connection.
Looking ahead, the global economic outlook remains uncertain, and the overall market for Creative’s current products remains
difficult and unpredictable. However, with the aggressive restructuring efforts we have taken, we are now a much leaner company
with a lower operating cost structure, which allows us to weather these challenges and positions us well when the global economy
recovers.
With Zii, I see a bright and exciting Creative finally emerging in the horizon.
Thank you.
Sim Wong Hoo
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
AR09 pg1-64_Final.indd 3 10/2/2009 10:38:05 AM