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
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
Cree 2008
LED Lighting Fixtures Purchase
Components 2009
Introduced first IPx5-Rated SMD LEDs for video screens
Components 2010
Introduced the first single die LED to Break 1000 Lumens
Cree 2011
Ruud Lighting Purchase
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
Lighting 2014
Launched Cree SmartCast® Technology, reinventing lighting controls with the push of one button.
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
Lighting 2015
Introduced Cree WaveMax® Technology with two revolutionary luminaires: IG and LN Series
Cree 2017
Cree Names Gregg Lowe as CEO