Nichia, Toyoda Gosei, Osram, Liangrui and Cree were the top five global LED manufacturers that once dominated the industry. CREE has created countless brilliance in the LED industry and the Chinese market: Beijing's Bird's Nest, Water Cube night scene lighting, and white light packaging devices that continue to create light efficiency records were all CREE's labels. Today, CREE announced on its official website that it has reached an agreement with SMART Global Holdings, Inc., and plans to sell the LED product division to SMART for a transaction price of US$300 million (upfront payment of US$50 million, deferred payment of US$125 million and contingent consideration of US$125 million).

CREE is one of the most well-known brands in the LED industry. Its main products include LED chips and packaging devices. SMART is a global leader in specialized memory, storage and high-performance computing solutions, serving the electronics industry for more than 30 years. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.

CREE stated that this transaction further clarifies the company's strategy: CREE will lead the industrial transformation from silicon to silicon carbide. Based on this, CREE will continue to invest in the semiconductor field and seize growth opportunities in new energy vehicles, 5G and industrial applications. According to industry research compiled by experts, CREE’s important events in recent years are:

In 2016, Infineon announced that it would acquire Cree’s Wolfspeed for US$850 million.

In 2017, the deal was halted after the parties were unable to resolve security concerns with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

In 2017, CEO Chuck Swoboda will step down after 16 years

In 2018, CREE counter-acquired Infineon’s RF power business for 345 million euros

In 2019, CREE sold its lighting products business for $310 million

In 2019, the US CREE announced that it would invest US$1 billion to expand SiC silicon carbide production.

In 2020, CREE announced the sale of its LED business for US$300 million

As a typical representative of the transition from LED to third-generation semiconductors, CREE and its subsidiary Wolfspeed are important forces in the global landscape of third-generation semiconductor devices. Wolfspeed’s industry status is as follows:
 

SiC power devices have the largest market share

The first company to commercialize SiC MOSFET

The first company to provide commercial SiC wafer products (1991)

Leading the change in SiC wafer size from small to large

GaN RF device market ranks second

More than ten years of GaN HEMT production experience

Providing GaN-on-SiC foundry services and changing the IDM industry

 

Experts say that the Industry Research Center believes that the sale of the LED business this time is actually expected. After CREE sold the lighting business last year, the sale of LED is only a matter of time. However, this also confirms CREE's determination to transform to the third generation of semiconductors, because the previous investment of 1 billion US dollars in SiC has meant that CREE is firmly betting on the future - power semiconductors and radio frequency.

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