History & Milestones

At Cree, we relentlessly pursue disruptive technologies that change industries. In nearly three decades, Cree has led by converting new science into market-changing products, one breakthrough after another.
Our progress is measured by the success of our business units

1987 1999

Cree 1987

Cree is Founded

Components 1989

Commercialized the World’s First Blue LED

Wolfspeed 1991

Released world’s first commercial SiC wafers; and led with every subsequent move from 2 inch, 4 inch, 6 inch and now to 200mm delivering the industry’s most robust, highest quality materials for the creation of SiC and GaN devices

Cree 1993

NASDAQ IPO

Wolfspeed 1998

Created industry’s first GaN HEMT on SiC: Enabled increased signal gain and a 4x power density (watts per mm) increase for wireless and broadcast high-power applications

Chips 1999

Introduced InGaN blue and green LEDs

2000 2009

Wolfspeed 2000

Demonstrated first ever GaN MMIC with record power density, proving GaN was not only a viable alternative to GaAs devices, but also greatly superior in power density, not just to support higher power output, but also allowing smaller die size for equal power

Wolfspeed 2002

Released our first 600V commercial SiC JBS Schottky diode that enabled the creation of ENERGY STAR® 80-Plus Gold, Platinum and Titanium power supplies

Chips 2002

Introduced XBright™ power chip

Components 2006

Introduced industry’s first lighting-class LED

Chips 2006

Introduced EZBright1000™ LED power chip for general lighting applications

Cree 2007

Cotco purchase – expands operations into China and provides access to video screen market

Lighting 2007

Launched first commercially viable LED fixtures, featuring Cree TrueWhite® and NanoOptic® Technologies.

Chips 2007

First Automotive DRL Application

Components 2009

Introduced first IPx5-Rated SMD LEDs for video screens

2010 NOW

Components 2010

Introduced the first single die LED to Break 1000 Lumens

Wolfspeed 2011

Released industry’s first SiC MOSFET, A market maker and key building block for more efficient power conversion systems, decreasing size, weight and bill of materials

Chips 2012

First Automotive Headlamp Application

Components 2014

First to Break 300 Lumens-Per-Watt Barrier

Wolfspeed 2014

Introduced the industry’s first 1700V SiC half-bridge module that delivers SiC switching speed and energy efficiency to solar, EV, and industrial power supplies that require kilowatts of power