Sim Wong Hoo
Sim Wong Hoo is a man who has totally transformed the image of Singaporean business during his long and varied career. At the age of 45 he became the youngest billionaire in the wealthy city-state. He earned his fortune as CEO of Creative Labs which is competing with heavy weights like Apple for a share of the new technology and personal computer market. One day they hoped to knock Apple from their perch and become the market leader, which never quite materialised. However, Sim is making a comeback with some new products to shake up the market place again.
Sim Won Hoo is hugely ambitious, and wants to push the company up the ladder and become number 1 eventually. He also believes they have the personnel, investment and expertise to do just that in the long run. He once said: “I'm planning to spend some serious money - I intend to out-market everyone.”
After many years playing catch up to Apple, now Sim Wong Hoo has rose from the ashes like a phoenix and is back on the trail of his competitors. Creative's share price surged after the announcement of the brand new HanZpad Alliance in Beijing.
In an industry where the finest margins are the difference between success and failure, when lawsuits are filed constantly over patent infringement, Sim has made it known that Creative will own the rights to all of HanZpad's hardware specifications, chips and content framework.
However there is a trade-off here as they will be using Google's Android software to power the new device.
Moreover, Creative is doing something no one else is doing with any great emphasis at the moment and that is creating Chinese-language content for its tablet. This will include educational material like textbooks designed for school children.
The company is determined to reinvent itself and has spent $1 billion over the past 10 years to deliver the ZMS to such a high standard.