History / Milestones

Creative and JC Hyun Systems, Inc. announce a joint venture entity in Korea known as Creative Technology Korea Ltd. JC Hyun, whose principal business includes manufacturing, assembling and trading of computers and computer peripherals, has been the exclusive distributor of the Company's products in the Republic of Korea since 1989. Creative Technology Korea will be actively and directly involved in the development of the South Korean market with the aim to strengthen the brand market position of Sound Blaster.

Creative Technology signals its entry into the Compact Disc Recordable (CD-R) market with the introduction of Digital Edge™ CD-R kit which provides mainstream consumers with a complete write-once CD authoring and data archival solution.
Creative announces plans to develop its own corporate headquarters building in Singapore which will be located in a major industrial business district.
Creative announces the completion of the acquisition of Digicom Systems, Inc. for US$21.8 million. Based in Milpitas, California, Digicom Systems develops and markets a range of high end, high speed modem products based on the latest DSP and telephony technologies.

Creative announces Plug-and-Play Sound Blaster 16, a Sound Blaster 16 card that automatically configures itself in any Plug & Play-compatible system. The card features 100% Sound Blaster compatibility and Creative's integrated audio chip which supports PC systems using Intel's Configuration Manager for Microsoft's Windows 3.1 and Windows '95.
Creative introduces Vienna SF Studio Editor, setting the Creative's family of Sound Blaster AWE32 audio cards apart from the other wavetable boards in the market. Based on E-mu's downloadable SoundFont™ technology, this software package allows users to create, edit and download sounds onto any Sound Blaster AWE32 audio card. It is an easy-to-use tool for developers and music hobbyists to enhance their applications and MIDI music with customized sounds and effects.
The introduction of HansVision marks a significant milestone in Creative's R&D calendar, achieving the next level of quality in terms of full graphical interface, software integration, Chinese font printing technology and bilingual processing. Developed by Creative's Chinese Software Division, HansVision is a comprehensive Chinese Document Processing Suite that interfaces effectively with Microsoft Windows 3.1. HansVision's 10 powerful software applications provides the Chinese businessperson effective communication tools for daily office tasks.

Creative's ShareVision PC3000 adds a personal touch to the Electronic Tutoring System initiated by Ngee Ann Polytechnic, one of Singapore's leading education institutions. The Electronic Tutoring System is hailed as the first of its kind in the world that incorporates ShareVision PC 3000 as the video and collaborative computing component, thus giving emphasis to the personal dimension of student-lecturer communication over a regular telephone line.
Creative launches Sound Blaster Compatibility Program, a cost-free formalized program that allows registered software developers to offer software titles that have been tested and guaranteed by Creative to be 100% compatible with Sound Blaster, the industry standard for high quality PC audio. Developers will be able to add the various Sound Blaster logos to their packaging and collaterals, assuring both the end-user and retailer that their software titles are fully Sound Blaster compatible.

Creative introduces BlasterWare™ software product line with high-quality, affordable titles which will be marketed worldwide with Creative's line of Sound Blaster cards and multimedia upgrade kits.

Creative's licensing of Intel Indeo video technology gives birth to Video Blaster RT300, a high-performance programmable video compression engine. Taking advantage of Intel's 82750PE® video processor and Indeo™ video technology, this video card features real time capture, superb image quality and resolution of analog video and is ideal for use in CD-ROM publication, presentations, training materials and desktop video applications.
Creative launches ShareVision PC300 and ShareVision PC3000, two desktop videoconferencing products for the PC platform. The product operates as a screen-based telephone, interactive on-line whiteboard, application sharing tool, and high speed data and fax modem over an analog phone line.
Creative shares debut on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Singapore on June 15, 1994 with trading made in Singapore dollar and in lots of 50 shares.

Creative and Microsoft form strategic relationship to develop future audio and DSP-based products for the PC to provide a comprehensive audio solution based on established standards to end users and third party developers

Creative announces a major investment in the Republic of Ireland to set up a manufacturing, operations and customer support facility in Dublin under the banner of Creative Labs (Ireland) Ltd. The total investment to build and operate the 100,000 sq. ft. facility over the next 5 years is estimated at US$21 million.
Creative releases a family of single-chip Sound Blaster audio solutions for the OEM marketplace. Vibra™ Pro features Sound Blaster Pro technology while Vibra 16 incorporates Sound Blaster 16 technology which can be enhanced by EMU8000, E-mu Systems' digital sample playback technology.

Creative launches Sound Blaster AWE32™, the next generation audio card that combines the powerful features of Creative's award-winning Sound Blaster 16 Advanced Signal Processing card with the Advanced WavEffects™ wavetable synthesis capabilities of E-mu Systems' EMU8000 technology, and also includes text-to-speech software, Creative TextAssist™.

Creative's Sound Blaster is selected as a permanent exhibit in China's National Science Museum, serving as a further recognition of Sound Blaster as the de facto sound standard in PC audio all over the world.

Creative and Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products sign agreement that allows Creative to incorporate existing German, French and Spanish versions of Lernout & Hauspie's continuous speech recognition and text-to-speech technologies into its family of 16-bit Sound Blaster audio boards.

Other milestones in 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 & earlier