Cree’s New CR6™ LED Downlight Redefines Residential Lighting

DURHAM, N.C. -- Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE), a market leader in LED lighting, announces general availability in late May of its new 6-inch LED downlight specifically designed for residential and light commercial use. Designed for both new construction and retrofits, the Cree CR6™ is expected to retail for under $60. 

The CR6 is now ENERGY STAR® qualified and, at up to 64 lumens per Watt, boasts the highest luminaire efficacy of any residential ENERGY STAR-qualified downlight.

Featuring award-winning Cree TrueWhite™ Technology, the CR6 provides consumers with warm, beautiful light without sacrificing energy efficiency. The CR6 is a direct replacement for a 65 Watt 6-inch incandescent downlight and is dimmable to 5 percent with most standard incandescent dimmers. Delivering 575 lumens and using just 10.5 Watts, the new fixture is designed to last 50,000 hours and features a 5-year warranty.

“For the first time, there is cost parity between energy-efficient LED downlights and toxic CFL downlights,” said Gary Trott, Cree vice president, market development, LED Lighting. “Factor in the longer lifespan, beautiful color quality and higher efficacy, and the Cree CR6 makes choosing LED downlights a no-brainer.”

The Cree CR6 LED downlight will be shown at Cree’s booth #149 during the Lightfair 2010 show this week in Las Vegas. 

About Cree
Cree is leading the LED lighting revolution and setting the stage to obsolete the incandescent light bulb through the use of energy-efficient, environmentally friendly LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting, and semiconductor solutions for backlighting, wireless and power 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 radio-frequency/wireless devices. Cree solutions are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, electronic signs and signals, variable-speed motors, and wireless communications.

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 the risk we may encounter delays or other difficulties in ramping up production of our new products; the risk we may be unable to manufacture products with sufficiently low cost to offer them at competitive prices or with acceptable margins; the potential lack of customer acceptance of the 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 28, 2009, and subsequent filings.

Cree is a registered trademark and TrueWhite, Cree TrueWhite and CR6 are trademarks of Cree, Inc. 
ENERGY STAR is a registered trademark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.