SINGAPORE - Creative Technology will begin sales in the United States this week for its Super X-Fi audio devices, the homegrown consumer electronics firm said on Monday morning (Oct 29).

Its shares jumped on the news, going into the midday trading break up by $0.45, or 8.33 per cent, at $5.85, after touching an intra-day high of $5.92 at 11.29am.

Pre-orders for the SXFI AMP headphone amplifier open on Nov 1, about a month and a half after sales in Singapore began. It will cost U$149.99 on the American market, compared with $219 locally.

Chief executive Sim Wong Hoo said in a media statement that "we have had a huge number of enquiries in the US about its availability" since a consumer electronics showcase in Las Vegas in January and added that "it's still early days yet, in a small market like Singapore".

Mr Sim has been cagey about the uptake for Super X-Fi in Singapore, but disclosed in September that it sold 600 units in the first 20 minutes when its local Web store went live.

Creative had said in its fourth-quarter financial statements the previous month (August) that Super X-Fi sales are "expected to provide good revenue growth opportunities for the current financial year".

Early reports from stock analysts wowed by the new technology had previously sent Creative's stock surging by 600 per cent over seven sessions in late February and early March.

The counter last closed down by $0.16, or 2.88 per cent, at $5.40 last Friday.