Creative Ignites the Explosive DVD Market With Awesome $499 PC-DVD™ Kit

New Creative PC-DVD Kit Offers a Complete Solution Including PC-DVD Drive, AC-3 Digital Audio and MPEG-2 Video Decoder Board

MILPITAS, CA -- March 24, 1997 -- Creative Labs, Inc., (NASDAQ:CREAF), the world's leading provider of multimedia products for personal computers, today became the first to ship a complete DVD solution for the PC with its new Creative PC-DVD kit. Available today -- on the shelf -- the new Creative PC-DVD kit delivers the much anticipated and powerful DVD audio and video experience at a shocking introductory price of US$499 -- more than 30 percent below what the market expected. PC-DVD is the next revolution in multimedia technology that gives the user access to a massive amount -- up to 17 gigabytes -- of media-rich content from a single CD-sized disc.

Initially targeted at power gamers, multimedia enthusiasts and early adopters, the Creative PC-DVD kit provides a dramatic upgrade in audio and visual technology for Pentium® processors that brings a whole new level of entertainment to the PC. The kit includes everything the customer needs to take full advantage of this powerful new multimedia drive technology.

"We see PC-DVD as the media rich solution that serves as the catalyst to take the PC into the family room and make it part of the entertainment center," said Hock Leow, vice president of the Multimedia Division at Creative. "Back in 1991, Creative pioneered the CD-ROM introduction. Today, by being the first to ship a complete PC-DVD kit at an awesome price of $499, we are leading the charge in this PC-DVD revolution."

Creative PC-DVD Features

The Creative PC-DVD kit includes a DVD-ROM drive that also plays any standard commercial CD-ROMs as well DVD discs. It includes the following:

PC-DVD drive that reads DVD-ROMs at 9x speed and CD-ROMs at 6x speed
Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio and MPEG-2 video decoder board for the best audio and video experience available to consumers
Dolby Digital connection provides capability for 5.1 channels of audio for a true theater-like surround-sound experience
MPEG-2 video gives the ability to play full-length (135 minutes), full-motion, higher resolution video -- play movies and interactive video content
Regional copy protection hardware for playback of encrypted digital content such as Hollywood movies
Ability to read up to 8.5 gigabytes of data or information on each side of a single DVD-ROM disk
Supports CD-ROM, CD-Audio, Video CD, CD-Extra and CD-I

"We believe that DVD represents the next major step in audio and video storage technology for the PC," said Claude Leglise, vice president of Content Group at Intel. "Creative's announcement of a complete, cost-effective DVD solution will contribute to extending the position of the PC as a central platform for entertainment and education. Software developers now have a new business opportunity for exciting DVD titles."

"The DVD market is poised to ramp up very quickly -- even more so than CD-ROM -- and add tremendous value to the user," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a market research firm located in San Jose, CA. "The expanded functionality of DVD for the PC includes entertainment media such as full-length movies, educational content and arcade-quality games. With their expertise in CD-ROM, strength in the channel and brand name recognition, Creative is ideally positioned to establish itself as the leader in this emerging and exciting new market."

"EA believes that DVD offers exciting enhancement possibilities for interactive entertainment software," said Elizabeth Ross, director of OEM and licensing at Electronic Arts. "The capability of DVD technology allows us to provide a more immersive gaming experience through MPEG-2 video and Dolby Digital audio."

Creative Technology Ltd. is the world's leading provider of advanced multimedia solutions for personal computers, including sound, graphics, communications and video conferencing products. The company's Sound Blaster technology has been accepted as the worldwide standard sound platform for PCs, and the company's global distribution network is among the most extensive in the multimedia industry. Creative is focused on enhancing the overall user experience by providing powerful, enabling, high-value technology for the mass market.

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This announcement relates to products whose launch are in the United States of America. The product names, contents, prices and availability may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements.

Sound Blaster is a registered trademark. Blaster is a trademark of Creative Technology Ltd. All other products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby recognized as such.