Creative Technology becomes Destructive liao

[Wind30]

Got few frds got retrenched already.1 working for motorola, local companies,mayb another 1 in seagate.

 

Reali sad but they hav maintained optimistic outlook.been searching 4 jobs furiousli.

 

what are they working as? Engineers?

[Hammerhammer]

My relative told me that Seagate (Woodlands) will be conducting a mass retrenchment on Monday 05/Jan/09 ... most staffs were on "force" leave for the past 2 weeks liao ... lets see whether it will be reported in the papers.

 

Ya, yesterday I went back to work after plant shutdown from 16 DEC to 3 JAN hear they going to retrench 25% manpower on the 5 and 15 JAN

[Ticklish8]

Heard from my friend in union, Seagate retrench 123 staff from 21 - 28 December.....

 

Note to sure about the retrenchment in January......

 

 

[Ticklish8]

Many many electronic company have given notice about their impending retrenchment after CNY....

This will be a bloody exercise.... Hold on tight....

 

 

 

Heard from my friend in union, Seagate retrench 123 staff from 21 - 28 December.....

 

Note to sure about the retrenchment in January......

 

[Rickster]

Will Creative one day close down?

 

If all those giant banks in the US can go bankrupt or into selling themselves, why not creative? But it'll be a very sad case if it really happens.

 

Creative was doing well until it battled against Apple...that is when it started to fall and has never recovered since.

 

[Speedsun]

I think Creative has lost products focus. It seems to me Creative has become IT accessories company, hence all products have no uniqueness and there are many companies are making those products too. How can Creative survive in such a business environment?

 

Anyhow, I still hope that Creative will not be taken over or goes chapter 11... Afterall, Creative has at least brought some proud to Singapore before.

[Rainman]

CREATIVE Technology, the home-grown tech firm, has slashed 2,700 jobs, or almost half its total workforce, in the last fiscal year as falling demand for its products continues to hit its bottom line.

Jobs cuts were made across the board, but the bulk was in manufacturing, due to the sale of its Malaysian plant in July 2007.

The Straits Times estimates that up to 2,200 jobs have been eliminated as a result of that closure.

This came to light in the company's annual report filed with the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday.

In the report, Creative said it had about 3,100 full-time workers as at June 30 last year, or 47 per cent fewer than the 5,800 employed a year earlier.

In the previous year, Creative had cut headcount by about 800 from 6,600.

A Creative spokesman said: 'The bulk of the reduction in the worldwide workforce was due to the sale of Cubic Electronics, the manufacturing subsidiary of Creative in Malaysia, in July 2007.'

Creative sold an 80.1 per cent stake in the Malaysian facility for US$6.9 million (S$10.1 million) to a group of third-party investors as part of a move to streamline and improve its operational efficiency.

Other staff cuts were made, with about 250 coming from sales, marketing and customer support, about 180 from administrative and other areas and fewer than 50 from research and development (R&D).

Besides Asia, headcount was also significantly reduced in the Americas region, from about 640 to 280.

The spokesman said there had been no 'significant change' in headcount in Singapore, where Creative has its corporate headquarters and a large part of its R&D operations.

'We are still looking to hire more R&D engineers,' the spokesman said.

The company employs about 1,100 staff in R&D across the US, Britain and China, in addition to Singapore.

Creative had net losses of US$19.7 million for the year ended June 30, 2008.

The company, which makes MP3 players and speakers, has been hit by slowing sales of its products due to the worsening economic situation and tough competition.

Sales for the three months ended Sept30 were US$141.2 million, down from US$184.6 million for the same period a year before. Half of Creative's sales came from Europe, while the Americas and Asia made up the rest almost evenly.

In the report, Creative said it faces 'intense competition from a large number of established companies and emerging companies'.

Sales of electronic products have slumped as the economic slowdown forces consumers to cut back on spending, leading companies like Chartered Semiconductor and Philips Electronics to announce job cuts in recent months.

Creative suffered a net loss of US$32.2 million in the first quarter ended Sept 30 to follow a net loss of US$31.7 million in the three months before that.

'We will continue to reduce operating expenses as we target to reduce our losses in the uncertain market environment ahead,' president and chief operating officer of Creative Labs Craig McHugh said in October.

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long time never heard of creative, ever since the sound blaster age.....

 

sound card? most motherboard comes with it already and good 1 somemore, graphic card plenty in the market...mp3? I will take IPOD anytime, where is their market segment?

 

Creative not that creative afterall..... I say slash the head first

 

 

 

[Wind30]

I think Creative has lost products focus. It seems to me Creative has become IT accessories company, hence all products have no uniqueness and there are many companies are making those products too. How can Creative survive in such a business environment?

 

Anyhow, I still hope that Creative will not be taken over or goes chapter 11... Afterall, Creative has at least brought some proud to Singapore before.

 

what do u expect them to do?? sell sound card forever?? It is correct to branch into new markets but it is just they cannot make it.... the product does not deliver.

 

I bought a creative zen mp3 player, but got hissing sound in my IEMs.... went back to creative found that all their MP3 player has hissing sound. so sold it away at a loss.

[Albeniz]

Seriously, if u know anyone working in CSM, u will know how BAD shape the company is. I am in this field, or rather I design ICs to be manufactured by Fabs like CSM or TSMC.

 

It is the corporate culture which is REALLY bad.... they ill treat the bottom engineers who does all the work. U pay peanuts, u get monkeys lor... The rank and file engineers in CSM are those who cannot find jobs in better fabs I think and are stuck in a sinking ship.

 

The company takes in many Masters and PhD graduates but unfortunately these talents are not properly deployed.

PhD graduates ended up doing mundane, non-value added work like polishing of wafer samples.

 

 

 

 

[Speedsun]

what do u expect them to do?? sell sound card forever?? It is correct to branch into new markets but it is just they cannot make it.... the product does not deliver.

 

I bought a creative zen mp3 player, but got hissing sound in my IEMs.... went back to creative found that all their MP3 player has hissing sound. so sold it away at a loss.

 

Of course not selling sound card nowadays. Creative must focus on just a few products to ensure the unqiueness of the products to be able to capture the consumer market share.

[Wind30]

The company takes in many Masters and PhD graduates but unfortunately these talents are not properly deployed.

PhD graduates ended up doing mundane, non-value added work like polishing of wafer samples.

 

ya and the amount of political bxxxxxxt in that company is amazing. it is like everyone is so concerned about covering backside and treat other departments like competitors... crazy....

[Darth_mel]

I guess the only thing creative about Creative Technology is in its accounting....:P

[Darth_mel]

what do u expect them to do?? sell sound card forever?? It is correct to branch into new markets but it is just they cannot make it.... the product does not deliver.

 

I bought a creative zen mp3 player, but got hissing sound in my IEMs.... went back to creative found that all their MP3 player has hissing sound. so sold it away at a loss.

 

Maybe you are playing the sound of snakes hissing in harmony ?

 

[Camrysfa]

A business building sometimes tell a story. Was passing by Creative Technologies HQ building in Jurong East today. In the fews secs while driving, I noted the fountain was not working, the building itself looked like vacated; the outdoor amphitheatre steps looked so stained.

 

although, today is not business day, wonder whether it will drop out of sight ....

 

 

[GLZT]

A business building sometimes tell a story. Was passing by Creative Technologies HQ building in Jurong East today. In the fews secs while driving, I noted the fountain was not working, the building itself looked like vacated; the outdoor amphitheatre steps looked so stained.

 

although, today is not business day, wonder whether it will drop out of sight ....

 

creative facts.PNG

 

creative.jpg

Many khong guan buildings are also rather run down. Is their business failing too?

[Vid]

Just bought a pair of Creative speakers for my children's PC. Pretty good.

 

Creative Technology is definitely what they used to be in their hay days. Nevertheless, their products are still good and I will continue to buy them.

[ExigeTan]

A business building sometimes tell a story. Was passing by Creative Technologies HQ building in Jurong East today. In the fews secs while driving, I noted the fountain was not working, the building itself looked like vacated; the outdoor amphitheatre steps looked so stained.

 

although, today is not business day, wonder whether it will drop out of sight ....

 

creative facts.PNG

 

creative.jpg

Man - I think Zombies must suck at building maintenance

[Blackyv]

Just bought a pair of Creative speakers for my children's PC. Pretty good.

 

Creative Technology is definitely what they used to be in their hay days. Nevertheless, their products are still good and I will continue to buy them.

The only item I will buy from them is their sound blaster sound card, nothing else...