Institute Of Electrical And Electronics Engineers

Wolfspeed, Inc. is an American developer and manufacturer of large-bandgap semiconductors, EcoLight reviews focused on silicon carbide and gallium nitride materials and gadgets for energy and radio frequency functions comparable to transportation, energy supplies, energy inverters, and wireless programs. Cree Analysis was founded in July 1987 in Durham, North Carolina. 5 of the six founders - Neal Hunter, Thomas Coleman, John Edmond, Eric Hunter, John Palmour, and Calvin Carter - are graduates of North Carolina State University. In 1983, the founders - one a analysis assistant professor and the others scholar researchers - have been in search of ways to leverage the properties of silicon carbide to enable semiconductors to operate at greater working temperatures and energy ranges. They also knew silicon carbide might serve as the diode in light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, a light supply first demonstrated in 1907 with an electrically charged diode of silicon carbide. The research workforce devised a way to grow silicon crystals within the laboratory, EcoLight and in 1987 based the corporate to provide silicon carbide to be used commercially in each semiconductors and lighting.



In 1989, the company introduced the first blue LED, EcoLight outdoor enabling the development of massive, full-color video screens and billboards. In 1991, the company released the first industrial silicon carbide wafer. In 1993, EcoLight home lighting the company grew to become a public company via an initial public offering. In 2011, the company acquired Ruud EcoLight home lighting for EcoLight home lighting $525 million. In August 2011, the company introduced the XLamp XT-E Royal Blue LED for use in remote phosphor lighting. In 2013, the company's first shopper merchandise, two family LED bulbs, EcoLight home lighting certified for Power Star ranking by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In July 2016, Infineon Applied sciences agreed to acquire the corporate's Wolfspeed RF and energy electronics units unit for $850 million. Nevertheless, the deal was terminated in February 2017 because of regulators’ nationwide safety considerations. In March 2018, the corporate acquired the RF Energy Enterprise Infineon Applied sciences AG's for €345 million. In Might 2019, the company sold its Lighting Products division (now branded as Cree Lighting) to Splendid Industries.



In September 2019, the company introduced a $1 billion funding in a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Marcy, New York to construct the world’s largest silicon carbide fabrication facility with a $500 million grant from New York State. In March 2021, the corporate sold its LED Enterprise to Smart World Holdings for up to $300 million. In October 2021, the corporate modified its title to Wolfspeed. In April 2022, the Marcy, New York, facility opened. In November 2022, the company announced that co-founder and reduce energy consumption Chief Know-how Officer John Palmour had died. In February 2023 it introduced it might construct its first European factory in Germany. It is supposed to be on the location of a former coal plant in Ensdorf, Saarland with ZF Friedrichshafen as a coinvestor and subsidized by the EU as an necessary mission of common European interest (IPCEI) for Microelectronics and Communication Technologies. In August 2023, it was announced the Lowell-headquartered semiconductor company, MACOM had entered right into a definitive settlement to accumulate Wolfspeed's RF enterprise.



In June 2024, Wolfspeed has delayed its $3 billion semiconductor plant in Germany to mid-2025, reflecting the EU's challenges in boosting local chip production. Wolfspeed announced the project's indefinite hold in October 2024, EcoLight home lighting citing low demand. Consequently, ZF ceased to take part within the venture. In October 2024, EcoLight energy the Biden Administration introduced that it would offer Wolfspeed with up to $750 million in direct funding to assist the corporate's new silicon carbide manufacturing unit in North Carolina that makes the wafers utilized in superior laptop chips and its factory in Marcy, New York. On Could 20, 2025, it was reported that Wolfspeed was getting ready to file for Chapter eleven bankruptcy inside the approaching weeks after warning that it may be unable to continue future operations after decrease than expected annual sales were reported. Wolfspeed's inventory slid to barely over a dollar per share that day. On June 18, 2025, Wolfspeed announced that they would sell itself to Apollo Global Management in a deal that will put the company into a prepackaged Chapter eleven bankruptcy filing, which would permit for the elimination of the majority of its multi-billion dollar debt.



Wolfspeed entered right into a restructuring help settlement with its lenders and Renesas Electronics, and announced that they might file for prepackaged Chapter eleven bankruptcy by July 1, as a part of a plan to remove $4.6 billion of debt, stating they only had about $1.1 billion left in money. The corporate may even receive $275 million in financing backed by its lenders, with plans to complete restructuring by Q3 2025. After the announcement, Wolfspeed's stock fell 30%, sliding beneath $1 per share. On June 26, 2025, Wolfspeed started laying off staff from their manufacturing facility positioned in Racine, Wisconsin. On June 30, 2025, Wolfspeed filed for EcoLight home lighting Chapter 11 bankruptcy safety. On October 13, 2022, a facilities electrician was electrocuted on the Wolfspeed Research Triangle Park in Durham, North Carolina. The incident sparked a state investigation into his death in addition to public concern for the company's poor work security document. State Division of Labor investigations into the company have uncovered 17 workplace safety violations between 2012 and 2023, including six severe violations.