Zone Gadget

Creative Chops 2,700 Jobs

After confirming last year net loss of $19.7 million, Creative finally comes with 2,700 jobs layoff.

Creative Technology, the Singaporean maker of accessories for Apple’s iPod, eliminated 2,700 jobs, almost half its workforce, last fiscal year after demand for its own music players tumbled.

The company had 3,100 full-time workers at the end of June 2008, down 47 percent from a year earlier, Creative said in an annual report filed to Singapore’s stock exchange Dec. 31.

Creative joins Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing and Royal Philips Electronics in cutting jobs as demand for electronics falters amid the global recession.

Competition
"The markets that Creative targets are highly competitive," the company said in the report. "Many of Creative’s current and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and other resources."

Creative posted a net loss of $19.7 million on sales of $736.8 million for the year ended June 30. That’s the lowest revenue in five years as sales of its music players slumped.

Creative shares fell 2.3 percent to S$4.20 as of 10:45 a.m. in Singapore trading Friday. The stock dropped 32 percent in 2008, compared with a 49 percent decline in Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index.