New Production Line Will Enable Larger LED Wafers, Increasing Output and Production Efficiency

Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) continues to lead the LED Lighting Revolution with the announcement of a new 150-mm LED wafer production facility in Research Triangle Park (RTP) that is targeted to create hundreds of green jobs in North Carolina. The new LED wafer production line will be located in Cree’s existing RTP production facility, and will allow Cree to produce 150-mm LED wafers that are more than double the size of current ones, increasing the number of LEDs from a single wafer, helping to make LED lighting more cost-effective. The new production line is scheduled to be installed over the next several quarters with a target of having the first products qualified on this line by June 2011.

Energy-efficient LED lighting is being installed in more places, in more countries every day. Companies, cities, universities and the federal government are saving energy and money by joining the LED Lighting Revolution. To keep pace with the growing market for energy-efficient LED lighting, Cree has added more than 600 jobs since early 2009, surpassing the company’s 2012 hiring goals set last fall. Cree anticipates hiring nearly 250 more employees by 2013 to staff the new wafer production line expansion.

“150-mm LED wafers are an important step in enabling the next phase of LED lighting,” said Cree CEO and Chairman, Chuck Swoboda. “These new larger wafers are the result of Cree’s relentless focus on innovation, demonstrating our commitment to leading the LED Lighting Revolution.”