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I don't know. Lawsuit can drag for very long. The difference between Creative then and Creative now is the latter is 1/5 in size.
History has shown that even if they have won, the claim has already been burned in maintaining its business. Maybe it might be better for them to settle for Apple's shares this time round.
"Criticism is the fertilizer of learning." - Sir John Templeton
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(11-03-2014, 11:00 AM)CityFarmer Wrote: (11-03-2014, 10:53 AM)GPD Wrote: Creative Subsidiary ZiiLabs Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Samsung and Apple
Total claim about US$70mil!
http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/007PR201...eID=287804
It seems lawsuit becoming a "core" business for Creative, after the success case previously. The company is trying to monetize its previous R&D effort...
(not vested)
Going the path of RAMBUS... no products but IP. And they have a lot simply because they were the leader on sound, graphics, mp3...
Quite sad to see this Singapore poster boy waste away since the days of Cubic 99 opposite Parkway Parade
Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give. –William A. Ward
Think Asset-Business-Structure (ABS)
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Creative has been creeping up... Personal opinion - I think there is only potential upside for this stock and much downside has already been factored in. Potential upsides include:
- Success of new products and I am actually quietly confident that the Sound Blaster Roar will do well
- The lawsuit will take awhile but I don't see any downside from this and if they do win, more money in the bag
I'm not a sound system connoisseur but bought a Sonos sound system for my new house not too long ago. Very good but costly and from what I understand, despite this, sales of the Sonos have been very strong such that I was made to wait pretty long for my woofer showing that there is a big market for such products out there. Reviews of Creative's Sound Blaster Roar has been very good and the pricing is extremely attractive. I personally see a winning product here. If it does well, it should correspondingly reflect in Creative's financial statements over the next few quarters. I don't see Creative going back to its heydays but I do think they may eventually reverse their loss making position. Let's wait and see whether Sim Wong Hoo can engineer a turnaround here.
(Vested Recently)
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12-10-2014, 07:56 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-10-2014, 08:04 PM by CY09.)
Creative full year's result was released in Aug and as usual it was a loss making year. Cashflow from ops is again negative.
However, what is interesting is that the company is trading slightly below its cash pile/share as usual. I wonder when will Mr. Sim just give up and sell off its IP portfolio. This business is burning cash and making losses; its really not worth running this sinking ship. 3 more years and Creative will burn through all its cash, to make matters worse, there is no more HQ for them to sell; they had sold it to Ascendas REIT for $246.8m in Apr 2008. For your info, the Creative outlet at marina square is gone.
I personally do not think the current range of Creative products will be a "roaring success" as Sennheiser is getting aggressive in the Singapore market. Its quite sad to see a once Billion dollar company being where it is now and where the mgmt is adamant in fighting and burning through its cash hoard.
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As long as SWH is in charge, I don't see any changes in the future. It's unfortunate that he is both CEO and Chairman; the Board is not likely to change him any day.
There is still money to be made in the peripheral business. Look no further than Razer and X-Mini, both Singaporean companies that has developed their own niche areas or even Dr Dre. But Creative really needs to reinvent itself; perhaps even drop the whole Creative brand altogether.
You can count on the greed of man for the next recession to happen.
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should have bought into other companies in the same industry like Realtek, when they had the cash. All my Asus and MSI laptops have been using the sound chips from Realtek since god knows how many years already..
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Im quite sure this company is still holding on to some valuable patents that can be successfully monetised
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29-10-2014, 09:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 29-10-2014, 09:40 PM by CityFarmer.)
How much more losses the company can continue taking? 5-10 million in US$ every quarter will drain out a company pretty soon...
Creative Technology sinks deeper into the red in 1Q with forex losses
By PC Lee / TheEdge Markets.com | October 29, 2014 : 7:49 PM MYT
SINGAPORE (Oct 29): Creative Technology, the manufacturer of Sound Blaster audio products, posted a net loss of US$9.9 million for 1QFY15 ended Sept.
This was larger than the net loss of US$5.5 million in 1QFY14.
The higher net loss in 1QFY15 was due mainly to higher other losses of US$3.6 million from foreign exchange loss of US$3.3 million compared to other gains of US$1.4 million in 1QFY14 mainly to foreign exchange gain of US$1.3 million.
Net sales for 1QFY15 decreased by 20% compared to the same quarter in 1QFY14.
...
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/sg/article...rex-losses
“夏则资皮,冬则资纱,旱则资船,水则资车” - 范蠡
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Creative still on Sound Blaster, no other new product...
--------
Creative Unleashes the Sound Blaster® Roar 2 –
a Smaller, Lighter, Sexier Sound Blaster Roar
Sound Blaster®
Roar 2 Portable Bluetooth® Wireless Speaker Retains All of the
Classic Sound Blaster Roar’s Critically Acclaimed Room-filling Audio Signature
In An Even More Compact Size
...
http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/004PR201...eID=338860
“夏则资皮,冬则资纱,旱则资船,水则资车” - 范蠡