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Cree To Open 150mm LED Manufacturing Line in North Carolina
The new production line will be located in Cree’s current Research Triangle Park facility and will enable larger LED wafers, increasing output and production efficiency.
Cree has revealed it has a new 150mm LED wafer production facility in Research Triangle Park (RTP) that is targeted to create hundreds of green jobs in North Carolina.
The new LED wafer production line will be located in Cree’s existing RTP production facility, and will allow Cree to produce 150mm LED wafers that are more than double the size of current ones, increasing the number of LEDs from a single wafer, helping to make LED lighting more cost-effective. The new production line is scheduled to be installed over the next several quarters with a target of having the first products qualified on this line by June 2011.
Energy-efficient LED lighting is being installed in more places, in more countries every day. Companies, cities, universities and the federal government are saving energy and money by joining the LED Lighting Revolution. To keep pace with the growing market for energy-efficient LED lighting, Cree has added more than 600 jobs since early 2009, surpassing the company’s 2012 hiring goals set last fall. Cree anticipates hiring nearly 250 more employees by 2013 to staff the new wafer production line expansion.
“150mm LED wafers are an important step in enabling the next phase of LED lighting,” said Cree CEO and Chairman, Chuck Swoboda. “These new larger wafers are the result of Cree’s relentless focus on innovation, demonstrating our commitment to leading the LED Lighting Revolution.”
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 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, backlighting, electronic signs and signals, variable-speed motors, and wireless communications.
Wireless GaAs technology Ramps Up MOCVD and MBE Equipment Sales
Companies benefiting from the demand for this technology and the ramping LED market include equipment manufacturers Aixtron, Veeco and Riber.
The continued expansion of the LED market was best exemplified through the numerous orders being received by Aixtron and Veeco over the May to August timeframe according to Strategy Analytics.
Its latest report, “Compound Semiconductor Industry Review May-August 2010: Optoelectronics, Materials & Equipment” points out that not all orders were targeted at the LED market. The continued strength of GaAs technology in wireless markets was also a driving factor behind both MOCVD and MBE equipment sales, again benefiting Aixtron as well as Riber.
This was also reflected in the financials at the equipment manufacturers, Veeco Instruments reported revenues of $253.0 million, an increase of 55% sequentially, and net income for Q210 was $52.4 million. About $175m was attributable for MOCVD, after shipping 81 systems. Aixtron reported revenue of €191.8 million (about $254 million), an increase of 24% sequentially and net income was €42.3 million (about $56 million.
LED technology is also ramping up into the general lighting sector as well as automotive with companies releasing both LEDs and lamps.
The ramp-up has also necessitated expansion activities at companies supplying the precursor materials for MOCVD production. Both Akzo-Nobel and Dow Electronic Materials announced plans to
October 2010
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