Cree Aeroblades luminaires combine cutting-edge technology with high-design

Date Announced: 04 Apr 2012 Revolutionary Outdoor Luminaires Debut at Light+Building in FrankfurtDurham, NC — Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) introduces the Aeroblades™ series of luminaires, demonstrating the continued evolution of outdoor LED lighting. Based on Cree’s advanced BetaLED® Technology with superior NanoOptic® lighting control, Aeroblades luminaires represent the intersection of industry-leading LED innovation and high design.“Cree is a proven leader in LED-based street and area luminaires,” said Christopher Ruud, vice president and general manager, Cree lighting. “Building on that success and combining cutting-edge form and function, Aeroblades luminaires leverage Cree® LED technology while incorporating forward-thinking and aesthetically pleasing architectural design to enhance the surroundings.”Designed and engineered with Speirs + Major, one of the world’s leading lighting design firms, the Aeroblades luminaire series takes a bold approach to architectural street, area and security lighting. Aeroblades luminaires redefine exterior lighting by enabling beautiful LED implementation while optimizing thermal management, light control, efficiency, longevity and payback.“While everybody else was creating standard shoeboxes and other conventional designs, we were approached with a revolutionary technology that allowed us to throw out all preconceptions of how urban luminaires should appear,” said Keith Bradshaw, director, Speirs + Major. “The result is the Aeroblades luminaire, designed for the best LED performance and the form followed.”The Aeroblades series boasts a unique modular design that allows the state-of-the-art light engine to bring unprecedented versatility and precision to outdoor applications. Aeroblades luminaires can be fine-tuned with NanoOptic technology optical control and the number of luminaire blades to meet specific illumination needs in smaller increments than either traditional designs or competitive LED products.Bradshaw added, “Cree Aeroblades luminaires redefine our understanding of what an LED outdoor luminaire should look like and how it should perform. What we have achieved could only be done with LEDs and Cree’s innovative technology.”Breakthrough engineering includes an innovative thermal management system that enables higher lumen output and provides significant boosts to lifetime, efficacy and color consistency. All luminaires have the option of 0-10V dimming, are designed to meet a minimum L70 (lumen maintenance) of 80,000 hours and feature a five-year warranty.The extremely versatile and modular design of the Aeroblades series enables customers to custom-design luminaires to best fit their application. Aeroblades luminaires will initially be available in more than 300 combinations, including: two, four or six blade versions, 20 optical distributions, four color temperatures (3000K, 3500K, 4000K and 5700K), four drive currents, two pole mount and wall mount versions and seven DeltaGuard® paint finishes.The Aeroblades series is sold through Cree lighting sales channels with sample quantities targeted for availability in calendar Q2, and full availability targeted to begin in Q3 of 2012. For additional information about Aeroblades luminaires, please visit www.cree.com/aeroblades. The Aeroblades series will also be demonstrated at Cree’s lighting booth (Hall 5, Stand C52) at Light+Building in Frankfurt, April 15-20 and booth #3008 at Lightfair International in Las Vegas, May 9-11.About CreeCree is leading the LED lighting revolution and making energy-wasting traditional lighting technologies obsolete through the use of energy-efficient, mercury-free LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting, and semiconductor products for power and radio-frequency (RF) applications.Cree's product families include LED fixtures and bulbs, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, power-switching devices and RF devices. Cree products are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, electronic signs and signals, power supplies and solar inverters.For additional product and company information, please refer to www.CreeLEDLighting.com. To learn more about the LED Lighting Revolution, please visit www.creeledrevolution.com.This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors, including the risk that we may be unable to manufacture these new products with sufficiently low cost to offer them at competitive prices or with acceptable margins; the risk we may encounter delays or other difficulties in ramping up production of our new products; the risk that actual savings will vary from expectations, customer acceptance of LED products; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render Cree’s products obsolete; and other factors discussed in Cree’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 26, 2011, and subsequent filings.Cree®, BetaLED®, NanoOptic® and DeltaGuard® are registered trademarks and Aeroblades is a trademark of Cree, Inc. or one of its subsidiaries.

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Michelle Murray Cree, Inc. Corporate Communications

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