Cree and Eta Devices to Demonstrate the World’s Most Efficient Power Amplifier (70%+) for Mobile Base Stations at the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

Collaboration Establishes New Industry Standard with Significant Energy and Carbon Footprint Reductions

DURHAM, N.C. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) and Eta Devices, Inc. will demonstrate the world’s most efficient reported power amplifier for mobile base stations at the 2013 Mobile World Congress, February 24-28 in Barcelona, Spain.

“Mobile operators gain dramatic advantages by adopting our new technology”

Current generation mobile base station amplifiers employing silicon LDMOS transistors can provide amplifier efficiencies up to 45 percent. By contrast, Eta Devices’ next-generation power amplifiers are able to deliver efficiencies higher than 70 percent under a 4G LTE modulation format, and are thus poised to revolutionize current industry efficiency standards.

“Eta Devices’ next-generation power amplifiers leverage the performance and reliability advantages of Cree’s GaN HEMT RF transistors to realize game-changing efficiency benefits for the mobile base station industry,” said Jim Milligan, business director, Cree RF. “Our transistors have been instrumental in demonstrating Eta Devices’ amplifiers, which perform 50 percent more efficiently than the best incumbent silicon power amplifiers currently available in the 4G LTE market.”

The world’s mobile networks consume approximately 120TWh of electricity per year, and 50-80 percent of these networks’ power is consumed by their power amplifiers and associated components. Implementing Eta Devices’ new power amplifier solution on a global level could save mobile operators 60TWh of energy per year, which is equivalent to the amount of power produced by more than seven average-sized American nuclear power plants. It could also save up to 50 percent of the $36.5 billion spent to power mobile base stations each year.

“Mobile operators gain dramatic advantages by adopting our new technology,” said Mattias Astrom, CEO of Eta Devices. “In addition to cost savings, our power amplifiers provide operators with a significantly reduced carbon footprint, which contributes to a more sustainable planet. In fact, if implemented on a global basis, our solution would reduce carbon emissions by approximately 36 million tons per year, which is equivalent to eliminating the annual greenhouse gas emissions produced by 7 million cars.”

Cree and Eta Devices’ demonstration of the new power amplifier will take place at the Barcelona Mandarin Oriental on February 26 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. For an invitation to attend the demonstration or to receive additional technical performance information, please e-mail [e-mail].

About Cree

Cree is a market-leading innovator of semiconductor products for power and radio-frequency (RF) applications, lighting-class LEDs and LED lighting solutions.

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.cree.com.

About Eta Devices

Eta Devices’ disruptive technology solves the key power challenges in the mobile communications industry.

In base stations, this leads to significantly reduced power consumption and smaller cabinets. For handsets, battery life is considerably increased and multiband communications can be enabled at a fraction of the cost and footprint; this makes it possible to use the same handset model all over the world.

Eta Devices’ technology also contributes towards a sustainable world by generating substantial carbon footprint reductions. Based on breakthrough research from MIT, Eta Devices is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Cambridge, MA with an R&D office in Stockholm, Sweden.

For additional product and company information, please refer to www.etadevices.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 actual savings will vary from expectations; customer acceptance of Cree 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 24, 2012, and subsequent filings.

Cree^® is a registered trademark of Cree, Inc.

Eta^™ is a trademark of Eta Devices, Inc.