UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DCD.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended June 27, 200426, 2005

Commission file number 0-21154

CREE, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, North Carolina 27703

(Address of principal executive offices)

(919) 313-5300

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:None

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yesx No¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  x¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yesx No¨

The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of December 26, 200323, 2004 was approximately $1,065,738,993$2,479,977,967 (based on the closing sale price of $17.50$38.82 per share).

The number of shares of the registrant’s Common Stock, $0.00125 par value per share, outstanding as of July 28, 200427, 2005 was 73,296,397.75,578,486.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the definitive Proxy Statement to be delivered to shareholders in connection with the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held November 4, 20043, 2005 are incorporated by reference into Part III.

CREE, INC.

FORM 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended June 27, 200426, 2005

INDEX

PART I

Information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act). All information contained in the following discussionthis report relative to future markets for our products and trends in and anticipated levels of revenue, gross margins and expenses, as well as other statements containing words such as “may,” “will,” “anticipate,” “target,” “plan,” “estimate,” “expect,”“expect” and “intend” and other similar expressions constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to business, economic and other risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include: our ability to complete development and commercialization of products under development, such as our pipeline of brighter light emitting diodes (LEDs);diodes; our ability to lower costs; potential changes in demand; the risk that, price stability, improved operational efficiencies, and the favorable product mix we have recently experienced will not continue; the risk that, due to the complexity of our manufacturing processes and the transition of production to three-inch wafers, we may experience production delays that preclude us from shipping sufficient quantities to meet customer orders or that result in higher production costs and lower margins; risks associated with the ramp up of our production for our new products; risks resulting from the concentration of our business among few customers, including the risk that customers may reduce or cancel orders or fail to honor purchase commitments; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render our products obsolete; the potential lack of customer acceptance for our products; cash expenditures related to the discontinuation of Cree Microwave operations in Sunnyvale, California; Cree Microwave’s ability to sublease the Sunnyvale facility; and risks associated with our pending securities and other litigation.ability to complete the Cree Microwave-Sunnyvale wind-down process by the end of calendar year 2005. See “Certain Business Risks and Uncertainties” in Item 7 of this report, as well as other risks and uncertainties referenced in this report, for additional risk factors that could cause actual results to differ.

Item 1.    Business

Introduction

Cree, Inc., a North Carolina corporation established in 1987, develops and manufactures semiconductor materials and devices based on silicon carbide (SiC), Groupgroup III nitrides (GaN), silicon, and related compounds. Our SiC and GaN materials technology is the basis for many of the devices that we develop and produce. The physical and electronic properties of SiC and GaN offer technical advantages over traditional silicon, gallium arsenide (GaAs), sapphire and other materials for certain electronic applications, which enable devices to attain a higher voltage level and higher thermal conductivity.applications. We currently focus our expertise in SiC and GaN materials on fourthree product areas: LEDs,light emitting diodes (LEDs), including blue, green and near ultraviolet (UV) LED chips and high power packaged LEDs, high power products, including power switching, products, radio frequency (RF) and microwave devices and near UV lasers. We have products commercially available in each of these categories except for near UV lasers. We also manufacture silicon RF transistors and modules.

As of the end of fiscal 2004,2005, we derive the majority of our revenues from sales of our LED products. We also generate revenue from sales of SiC and GaN materials, and we earn revenue under government contracts that support certain of our research and development programs to the extent the contract funding exceeds our direct cost of performing those activities. In addition, we derive a small portion of revenuerevenues from our sales of gemstone materials used for gemstones and devices for wireless infrastructure and power switching applications. We currently are working to develop near UV lasers that are targeted for future optical storage markets.markets and high definition digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) applications.

Most semiconductor devices are fabricated on wafers made from silicon crystals. Silicon evolved as the dominant semiconductor material because it is relatively easy to grow into large, high quality single crystals that are suitable for fabricating many types of electronic devices. Alternative semiconductors such as GaAs were developed to enable the fabrication of improved RF devices and optoelectronic products such as red

LEDs and lasers. Wide bandgap semiconductors, such as SiC and GaN, have emerged to provide improved capabilities for solid-state devices. SiC is most commonly targeted for power and RF devices, while GaN is generally targeted for optoelectronic applications such as blue, green or UV LEDs and near UV lasers, as well as higher frequency microwave devices.

We operateThrough fiscal 2005, we have operated our business in two segments, the Cree segment, which consists of our SiCSiC- and GaN-based products and research contracts, and the Cree Microwave segment, which includesconsists of silicon-based RF transistors and RF transistor modules. OurIn June 2005, we announced plans to close the silicon-based RF business by December 2005 and will no longer report Cree Microwave segment began operations with the December 2000 acquisition of the UltraRF business from Spectrian Corporation (Spectrian). The UltraRF acquisition was accounted for under the purchase method. We renamed the UltraRF business Cree Microwave during fiscal 2002. Additionally, our Cree segment acquired Nitres, Inc. (Nitres) in May 2000 in a business combination accounted for as a pooling of interests.separate segment beginning in fiscal 2006. See “Cree Microwave Segment” below in this report for additional information about this business. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, the Cree segmentwe acquired the GaN substrate and epitaxy business of Advanced Technology Materials, Inc. (ATMI). We accounted for this acquisition under the purchase method.

The majority of our Cree segment products are manufactured in Durham, North Carolina in a six-part process, which includes:includes SiC crystal growth, wafering, polishing, epitaxial deposition, fabrication and testing. The GaN substrateWe also package certain high-powered LED and epitaxy business acquired from ATMIwide bandgap products in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 is currently operating at an ATMI facility in Danbury, Connecticut. We anticipate moving this business toour Durham North Carolina during fiscal 2005.facility. The Cree segment also operates a research and development facility called the Santa Barbara Technology Center (SBTC) in Goleta, California. Our Cree Microwave silicon-based products are produced in Sunnyvale, California at oura silicon wafer fabrication facility, where we buy silicon wafers from third parties, fabricate devices in a clean room environment and testpackage and packagetest finished products. We are planning to close this facility in the second quarter of fiscal 2006. Subcontractors located domestically and in foreign countries also package some of our products.

Products and Products underUnder Development

Cree Segment:Segment

The Cree segment produces LEDs, SiC and GaN materials products, SiC-based power devices and RF microwave transistors and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) using our SiC and GaN materials. In addition, we currently are developing near UV laser devices in this segment.

LEDsLED Products

Blue, Green and Near UV LED Chips.    Our LED chip products include blue, green and near UV devices made from GaN and related materials grown on SiC substrates. LEDs are solid-state electronic components used in a number of applications, including backlighting for handheld mobile appliances such as cell phones and automotive dashboards.interior lighting. In addition, groups of LEDs make up single orare used for full-color electronic displays including display signs orand traffic signals, or they can be used as indicator lightsa light source for gaming equipment, consumer products and other electronic equipment. Some of our customers packagecombine our blue LEDs with a phosphor coatingphosphors to create white LEDs. Our customers’ white LED products are used in various applications for mobile appliances,phones, including the backlight for full color display screens; white keypads and the camera flash function. Our customers’ white LEDs also are used as a light source for a number of specialized lighting applications. LEDs offer several advantages over small incandescent bulbs, including longer life, lower maintenance cost and energy consumption and smaller space requirements. We currently sell the majority of our LEDs in chip form to customers who package them in a variety of applications. LEDs represented 78%83%, 75%78% and 58%75% of our revenue for the fiscal years ended June 26, 2005, June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003, and June 30, 2002, respectively.

Our LED chips are currently available in three brightness ranges, which we refer to as standard brightness, mid-brightness and our high-brightness range.products. Our standard brightness LED chips, offered in blue wavelengths only, target applications requiring high quality and high volume availability at a lower price

point. End customers use this product for applications where higher brightness may not be required,

such as for indoor applications, certain automotive designs or as indicator lights. In fiscal 2005, 2004 and 2003, these products comprised 5%, 8% and 10%, respectively, of our LED revenues.

Our mid-brightness range includes our UltraBright^®, SuperBright^™ and SuperBrightUT230^™ LEDs. Our mid-brightness LEDs provide an option for applications that require a higher level of brightness than provided by our standard brightness LEDs, but still need a low price point. End user applications include the backlight source for mobile appliances,phones, which includes both the keypad area of mobile phonesand display areas and other small hand-held devices, and automotive dashboards.interior lighting. Our customers also use mid-brightness LEDs in gaming displays such as pachinko, consumer products, office equipment and full color video displays. In order to respond to market demand for keypad handset applications, we released the UT230 product in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004. This product provides a thin form factor and a lower forward voltage, which is designed to extend battery life over standard LEDs. The UT230 is targeted for the mobile appliance market as it offers a lower selling price than our other mid-brightness LEDs. Our mid-brightness LEDs are offered in blue traffic green, and true green. In fiscal 2005, 2004 and 2003, this category of productproducts comprised 36%, 43% and 55%, respectively, of our LED revenue.

Our high-brightness products include our MegaBright^®, XBright^®, XThin^® and XThinXB900^™ and our XBright XB900 and XB500^™ power chip LED products. Some of our customers use our high-brightness LEDs, including our XT-21^™, XT-24^™ and XT-27^™ chips, to create white light from blue LEDs by combining them with phosphors. Target applications for blue LEDs that are converted to white light consist of mobile appliances,phones, including backlighting for full color displays, white keypads and camera flashes, as well as miniature white lights and other illumination applications. Some of our customers also use our blue and green high-brightness LEDs for traffic signals, video screens, gaming displays such as pachinko and automotive backlighting. In orderOur XB900 and XB500 power chips are intended to address the markets for higher power LEDs, we developed the XB900 power chip. TheseLEDs. The 900 series LEDs are designed to operate at approximately one watt of power and are nine times larger than industry standard size (300 x 300 microns) LEDs andLEDs. These chips aim to deliver approximately 10 times the light output than our standard XBright chips due to operation at a much higher input power. The 500 series LEDs are designed to operate at approximately one half watt of power than our standard XBright chips. As a result, these chips could be used in a new range ofand are targeted for architectural lighting applications. In fiscal 2004, we announced the release of an XBright XB500 power chip for applications in the one-half watt power range. Both the XB900 and XB500 chips are currently available.uses. Our high-brightness LEDs are offered in blue, traffic green, true green and near UV wavelengths. In fiscal 2005, 2004 and 2003, this category of LEDs comprised 59%, 49% and 35%, respectively, of our LED revenue.

High Power Packaged LEDs.    We are developingcontinuing to develop high power packaged LEDs that are designed to compete with conventional and incandescent lighting technology for certain specialty lighting applications. In the near term, we do not anticipate that our LEDs will be able to compete withwidely replace incandescent and fluorescent bulbs for conventional lighting markets due to their cost efficiency, brightness and other factors. However, in some applications, such as architectural lighting, appliance lighting and reading lamps, LEDs can be advantageous because of their design flexibility and can be less expensive than incandescent bulbs due to lower energy requirements, longer life and reduced maintenance costs.

In October 2003, we announced the introduction of our XLamp^™ family of high power packaged LEDs, which are designed for emerging lighting applications.LEDs. We started shipping our first product in the high power LED family, the 7090 series XLamp productLED, in June 2004. The 7090 series product combines our XB900 power chip with a high power surface mount package that is designed to operate up to one watt350 milliamps of power. We alsodrive current. The XLamp 7090 LED is available in multiple colors and white, and is designed to provide an alternative solution to incandescent and conventional light sources in architectural and general illumination applications. In the second quarter of 2005, we introduced and started shipping our 4550 series XLamp product, which incorporates our XB500 chip and is targeteddesigned to operate at up to one half watt150 milliamps of electrical power.drive current. The 70904550 series is also available in multiple colors and 4550 XLamp series are designedaddresses market demand for high-brightness and smaller form factor power LEDs for architectural and accent lighting and specialtyother general illumination applications such as channel letter lighting, appliance lighting and reading lamps. The future targeted applicationsapplications. In fiscal 2005, high power packaged LEDs represented less than 1% of our LED revenue.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, we announced a new initiative for our power chip and XLamp packaged products include solid-state illumination applications, automotive lighting andLED backlighting under development for large formatscreen liquid crystal display (LCD) screens.applications that reduces power consumption compared to other LED and traditional compact fluorescent backlighting options. This approach is based on our high-brightness XThin blue and green LEDs and should enable manufacturers to produce television and computer monitors with larger screens that do not require active cooling, resulting in thinner monitors and lower production costs.

Materials Products

Our materials products consist of SiC and GaN wafer and epitaxy products and bulk SiC materials used for gemstone applications.

SiC and GaN Wafers.Wafers.    We manufacture SiC wafers for sale to corporate customers who use the wafers in manufacturingto manufacture products for optoelectronic and power deviceswitching applications. Corporate, government and university programs also buy SiC and GaN wafers for research and development directed to optoelectronic, microwave and high power devices. We sell our wafers as a bare wafer or a customized wafer with epitaxial films of SiC or GaN materials, depending upon the nature of our customer’s needs.materials. We currently sell both two-inch and three-inch wafers. Wafer products represented 7%, 9%wafers and 11% of our revenue for the fiscal years ended June 27, 2004, June 29, 2003 and June 30, 2002, respectively.

Over the past few years, we have continued to expand our product line of three-inch wafers, which are better suited for the manufacture of power and microwave devices. We continuecontinuing to develop SiC wafers that are larger and of higher quality. These wafers have potential for higher yieldWafer products represented 6%, 7% and lower cost for devices made from them. As a result, we plan to migrate the majority of the manufacture9% of our LED products to a three-inch wafer platform duringrevenue for the fiscal 2005.years ended June 26, 2005, June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003, respectively.

Bulk Materials Used for Gemstones.Gemstones.    We manufacture SiC crystals in near colorless form for use in gemstone applications. Single crystalline SiC has characteristics that are similar to diamond, including properties relating to color, hardness and brilliance. We sell SiC in bulk crystal form exclusively to Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (C&C), which produces and markets gemstone products made from SiC crystals. SiC materials sold for gemstone applications represented 2%, 3%,2% and 2%3% of our revenue for the fiscal years ended June 26, 2005, June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003, and June 30, 2002, respectively.

High Power Products

SiC-based Power Devices

.    SiC-based power devices can operate at significantly higher breakdown voltages than silicon-based power devices and provide faster switching speeds than comparable silicon-based power devices at similar breakdown voltages. These attributes create a lower switching loss, which yields power savings due to higher efficiency, enabling smaller and more efficient systems.

Our current SiC-based power products are 300-voltinclude 300, 600 and 1,200-volt Schottky diodesdiodes. Target applications for output rectifiers andthese products include power factor correction and output rectification in power supplies. We also offer 600-volt Schottky diodes for applications suchsupplies as power supplies used in computer servers and 1200-volt Schottky diodes targeted forwell as motor control applications. We are marketing these products to manufacturers of power conditioning and power switching equipment as potential replacements for silicon-based power devices in certain applications.controls. SiC-based power devices represented 1% and 1% of our revenue for the fiscal yearyears ended June 26, 2005 and June 27, 2004.2004, respectively. SiC-based power devices represented less than 1% of our revenue for the fiscal yearsyear ended June 29, 2003 and June 30, 2002.2003.

We are developing additional prototype SiC-based power devices, including PIN diodes, bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and power MOSFETs, which could have many potential uses such as power conditioning and power switching in power supplies and motor control applications.

RF and Microwave Transistors

.    RF and microwave devices made from SiC can operate at higher voltages, which allows for higher power densities as compared to silicon or GaAs-based devices. Additionally, this characteristic allows SiC-based devices to be significantly smaller while carrying the same or greater power levels than silicon-based or GaAs-based devices. Currently, there is a higher cost associated with SiC than silicon or GaAs-based devices for RF and microwave transistors.

We currently offer aboth 10-watt and 60-watt SiC transistor product,transistors, or metal-semiconductor field effect transistor (MESFET) product. We also have sampled 60-wattproducts. In June 2005, we began sampling a 10-watt packaged SiC MESFET chips to select customers. Additionally, wetargeted at broadband wireless access and WiMax applications. We believe that the reliability, efficiency and high temperature capability of our SiC MESFETs make them well suited for such applications, since power consumption and available cooling are key design considerations.

We also provide a foundry service for wide bandgap monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs).MMICs. These SiC-based RF circuits can be used in a variety of wide bandwidth communications applications, high-power radar amplifiers, electronic warfare and wireless infrastructure. The MMIC foundry service allows a

customer to design its own custom SiC RF circuit to be fabricated in our MMIC foundry, or have us provide custom MMIC design for the customer and

fabricate the chips. We intend to focus future development efforts in this area on creating higher power SiC MESFETs and GaN RF devices. SiC MESFET and MMIC devices represented 1% of revenue for the fiscal year ended June 26, 2005. SiC MESFET and MMIC devices represented less than 1% of revenue for each of the fiscal years ended June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003, and June 30, 2002.respectively.

Near UV Laser Diodes

We have demonstrated near UV lasers (sometimes referred to as blue lasers) that operate at power levels ranging from 3three milliwatts to greater than 100 milliwatts. Our development activity continues to focus on developing more reliable and higher performance devices. The primary target market for our lasers is optical disk drives for next generation digital versatile disk (DVD)DVDs and computer data storage applications. The shorter wavelength of near UV products enables significantly higher storage capacity than the current generation of optical drives, which employ red lasers. At this point, numerous standards are being proposedIn fiscal 2005, we shifted our development efforts for near UV lasers to GaN substrates from SiC substrates to improve the next generationperformance of DVDs including Blu-ray and High Density Digital Versatile Disk (HD-DVD).our devices.

Cree Microwave Segment:Segment

OurThrough fiscal 2005, we operated the Cree Microwave segment, produces bipolar andwhich produced laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) devices made from silicon substrates. These products enable us to offer our customers an array of power transistors designed to meet a broad spectrumCree Microwave began operations with the December 2000 acquisition of the current and potential wireless infrastructure markets.These products representUltraRF business from Spectrian Corporation (Spectrian). We renamed the main semiconductor content of a power amplifier, which is used in a base station to boost the power of a signal so that it can reach a wireless phone or other device within a designated geography. During fiscal 2004,UltraRF business Cree Microwave also beganduring fiscal 2002. Its products are manufactured at our subsidiary’s silicon fabrication facility in Sunnyvale, California. In June 2005, we announced plans to sell products targeted for the military and aeronautics (mil-aero) markets.cease production of Cree Microwave’s products by the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2006, based on management’s review of the strategic alternatives and financial outlook for this business. We plan to concentrate on wide bandgap RF and microwave products based on our SiC and GaN technology. Cree Microwave’s products represented 3%, 1%, 3% and 16%1%, respectively of our total revenue for the fiscal years ended June 26, 2005, June 27, 2004, and June 29, 2003, respectively. We will no longer report Cree Microwave as a separate segment beginning in fiscal 2006. However, we plan to continue marketing our SiC and June 30, 2002, respectively.

Prior to fiscal 2003, sales to Spectrian represented 99% ofGaN-based wide bandgap RF and microwave products under the Cree Microwave’s revenue. In November 2002, we entered into an agreement with Spectrian to terminate our supply contract. During fiscal 2004, the majority of the segment’s revenues represented sales to new customers for LDMOS designs for wireless infrastructure and mil-aero business.Microwave brand.

Financial Information aboutAbout Segments and Geographic Areas of Customers and Assets

For financial information about business segments and geographical areas of customers, please see Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Other Matters”Matters,” to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report. All of our long-lived tangible assets currently are maintained in the United States.

Government Contract Funding

We derive a portion of our revenue from funding that we receive pursuant to research contracts withor subcontracts, funded by various agencies of the U.S. Government. We had 31, 33 19 and 1819 government contracts in effect during the fiscal years ended June 26, 2005, June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003, and June 30, 2002, respectively.

TheseOur government contracts typically cover work performed over several months up to five years. These contracts may be modified or terminated at the convenience of the government and typically are subject to appropriation and allocation of the required funding on an annual basis. The revenue that we recognize pursuant to these contracts represents reimbursement by various U.S. Government entities that aid in the development of new technology. The applicable contracts generally provide that we may elect to retain ownership of inventions made in performing the work, subject to a non-exclusive license retained by the U.S. Government to use the inventions for government purposes.

Contract funding may be based on either a fixed price or cost type award. Cost awards include cost, cost-plus fixed fee or cost-share arrangements. The amount of funding under each contract is determined

based on cost estimates that include direct costs, plus an allocation for research and development expenses, general and administrative expenses and cost of capital expenses. The specific reimbursement provisions of the contracts, including the portion of our general and administrative expenses and other operating expenses that are reimbursed, vary by contract. Cost-plus funding is determined based on actual costs plus a fixed fee. For the cost-share contracts, based on the terms of the contract, the actual costs relating to activities we are to perform under the contract are divided between the U.S. Government and us. The U.S. Government’s cost share is then paid to us. The contracts typically require the submission of a written report that documents the results of the research, as well as some material deliverables.

The revenue and expense classification for contract activities is based on the nature of the contract. For contracts where we anticipate that the U.S. Government funding will exceed our direct costs relating to the program over the life of the contract, funding is reported as contract revenue and all direct costs are reported as costs of contract revenue. For contracts under which we anticipate that direct costs of the activities subject to the contract will exceed the amounts to be funded over the life of the contract, costs are reported as research and development expenses and related funding is reported as an offset of those expenses. For the fiscal years ended June 27, 2004, June 29, 2003 and June 30, 2002, U.S. Government funding represented 9%, 12% and 12% of total revenue, respectively.

We generally must compete with other companies for funding awards from the U.S. Government. In certain cases, such as when the value of a U.S. Government contract exceeds $100,000 and when highly technical research is required, the U.S. Government issues a request for proposal (RFP). In a typical RFP, the U.S. Government requests a product or service and solicits proposals from prospective contractors on how they intend to carry out that request and at what price. Proposals received in response to an RFP can be subject to negotiation after they have been submitted. Many U.S. Government contracts are awarded on a type of RFP called a broad agency announcement (BAA). In a BAA, the U.S. Government requests a broad range of research and development services. Contractors submit bids for research in any of the technical areas mentioned in the BAA. Then the U.S. Government may select winners of the awards and negotiate contracts with those parties. The U.S. Government uses many methods to select contractors to receive awards. Some of these methods include choosing vendors who offer products or services that provide the best value, lowest price and highest level of technology. We also may be the recipients of a sole source contract from the U.S. Government if the U.S. Government determines that we are the only viable source for the work to be performed. In this case, the U.S. Government would publish its intent to award a sole source contract to us, and if there are no viable challenges made to that publication, the U.S. Government might award the contract to us without a competitive bid process.

In May 2004, the Army Research Laboratories (ARL) awarded us a contract through the Robert Morris Acquisition Center, providing for funding up to $15.9 million over five years. This contract focuses on the development of manufacturing technology for high-temperature high-power SiC semiconductor material and power devices for use in electric traction drive power components and associated power conditioning and control electronics for the next-generation of combat vehicles. The contract contemplates research regarding the manufacture, processing, and performance of high-temperature SiC high power devices for electric traction drive systems. Specifically, our research efforts under the contract will focus on improving the quality of SiC material (substrates and epi-layers) and the design, development, and operation of SiC power devices for high-temperature, high power motor drive applications. For the year ended June 27, 2004, we recorded $351,000 of revenue associated with this contract.

Also in May 2004, through the ARL Robert Morris Acquisition Center we were awarded a contract providing up to $9.9 million of funding over five years. This contract focuses on the development of high-temperature SiC semiconductor high power devices and power modules for use in electric traction drive power components and associated power conditioning and control electronics for the next-generation of

combat vehicles. The contract also contemplates research regarding device development of SiC power devices and power modules for electric traction drive systems, including SiC power device and power module design, fabrication and operation at high-temperature and high power in motor drive power conditioning, control and power distribution applications. The overall goal of this program is to provide high-temperature power modules with a 1200 V, 600 A rating. For the year ended June 27, 2004, we recorded $161,000 of revenue associated with this contract.

In June 2002, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) awarded us two contracts with a total value of approximately $14.4 million as part of the Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Technology Initiative of the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The first contract provided for up to $8.8 million in U.S. Government funding over an 18-month period for work directed to microwave and related technologies. This contract focuses on the development of high quality four-inch semi-insulating substrates, SiC MESFET and GaN HEMT epitaxial processes on large diameter wafers, and studies correlating material advances with device performance. In December 2003, DARPA committed an additional $2.9 million to the program for a six-month extension, bringing its total funding commitment under the contract to $11.7 million.

The second ONR/DARPA contract provided for up to $5.6 million in U.S. Government funding over an 18-month period for work directed to SiC high voltage, high power switching devices for high power conversion and distribution technology. This contract focuses on the development of low defect density four-inch, n-type 4H-SiC substrates, more uniform, thick SiC epitaxial processes, and power device development focused on high reliability, high voltage SiC PIN rectifiers and MOSFETs. In December 2003, DARPA committed an additional $1.9 million to the program for a six-month extension. In June 2004, DARPA awarded an expanded effort to the program, committing an additional $800,000. This additional funding brings the total funding commitment under the contract to $8.3 million.

We may enter into a number of contracts for different projects with a single agency or enter into contracts addressing different parts of the same project with more than one agency. For example, we currently have several large contracts with the ONR and the Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL). In July 2002, we were awarded U.S. Government contracts totaling $26.5 million, if fully funded, over a three-year period from ONR and AFRL for SiC MMIC process development. The U.S. Navy, the Missile Defense Agency and the Department of Defense’s Title III program jointly fund these contracts. Under our previously existing Title III contract with AFRL, the project added $3.2 million through a contract modification for additional tasks focused on improving yields of the three-inch diameter high purity semi-insulating SiC substrates to be used for MMIC devices. The remaining $23.3 million is being provided through the contract with ONR. The goal of this contract is to provide enhanced producibility of SiC materials, both substrates and epitaxy, and clean room processing, in support of high-power MMIC amplifiers used in military radar applications. The majority of the work is directed to yield enhancement and cost reduction for MMICs fabricated on three-inch diameter SiC wafers. In fiscal 2004, revenues under the specific contracts (DARPA, MMIC Producibility and AFRL) with the ONR, AFRL and ARL combined were approximately 4% of total revenue.

Additionally, we were awarded with another contract in June 2002 funded by DARPA through the ARL Robert Morris Acquisition Center to pursue the development of UV LEDs and lasers for a variety of military communications and bio-threat detection applications under DARPA’s Semiconductor Ultraviolet Optical Sources (SUVOS) program. This DARPA SUVOS contract provides for up to $14.4 million in U.S. Government funding over a four-year period. In fiscal 2004, DARPA committed an additional $3.0 million toward this program, bringing the total funding commitment under the contract to $17.4 million. In fiscal 2004, this DARPA SUVOS contract accounted for approximately 2% of total revenue.

The specific contracts mentioned above are all cost share arrangements. The contracts require us to conduct the research effort described in the statement of work section of the contract. The contracts also require that we pay a contractually agreed upon portion of the costs of the work with the U.S. Government

paying the balance. There are no milestones to be reached for payments from the U.S. Government. We invoice the U.S. Government monthly for their share of the costs of the work performed based on costs incurred for that month. For the fiscal years ended June 26, 2005, June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003, U.S. Government contract funding represented 6%, 9% and 12% of total revenue, respectively.

Distributorship Agreement with Sumitomo Corporation

In April 2002, we entered into a distributorship agreement with Sumitomo Corporation (Sumitomo), which washas been amended in March 2003, amended and restatedannually, most recently in May 2004 and amended in July 2004.2005. Under the agreement, as amended, Sumitomo became our strategic partner and is now the exclusive distributor of ourcertain LED and wafer products in Japan and a non-exclusive distributor in certain other Asian countries through fiscal 2007. Prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, the distributorship agreement requires Sumitomo to commit in advance to purchase a specified dollar value of our products during the next fiscal year. For fiscal yearyears 2005 and 2004, Sumitomo’s advance purchase commitment wascommitments were approximately $160 million and $100 million, and revenue recognized from Sumitomo was $101.8 million.respectively. For fiscal year2006, under the terms of the agreement as amended in May 2005, Sumitomo’s current advance purchase commitment is approximately $160 million; however,$200 million. We anticipate that purchases will be made across our full line of LED chip products representing our standard brightness, mid-brightness and high-brightness devices, including MegaBright, XBright and XThin LEDs. However, Sumitomo’s purchase commitment may vary under certain circumstances subject to end customer demand and other terms and conditions. For example, the distributorship agreement provides that Sumitomo may decrease its advance purchase commitment and/or terminate the agreement if its inventory of Creeour products reaches a specified level. If Sumitomo does not purchase at least half of its advance purchase commitment for any fiscal quarter as a result of this inventory limitation, we have the option of terminating the distributorship agreement.

The distributorship agreement also requires us to establish two rolling reserves at the time we ship LED products to Sumitomo, each based upon a percentage of the total purchase price of the products. We defer revenue recognition on the amounts added to both rolling reserves each fiscal quarter. These reserves are used to reimburse Sumitomo for certain sales costs incurred in selling our products and for managingallows Sumitomo to rotate its inventory up to the balance in these reserves. If Sumitomo makes a valid claim against these reserves, we write off or reduce the amount of the claim against the applicable reserve. Except to the extent Sumitomo makes a valid claim against the reserves, amounts added to these reserves during a fiscal quarter will expire on a rolling basis by at least the end of the second following fiscal quarter, and we recognize revenue equal to the expired amount at that time.certain situations.

Research and Development

We invest significant resources in research and development aimed at improving our semiconductor materials and developing new device and production technology. Our core materials research is directed to improving the quality and diameter of our SiC and GaN substrates. We also are working to improve the quality and attributes of the SiC and nitride epitaxial materials we grow to produce devices and to improve device yields by reducing variability in our processes. These efforts are in addition to ongoing projects focused on brighter LED chips, high power packaged LEDs, higher power diodes/switches, higher power/higher linearity RF and microwave devices and near UV laser devices and higher power diodes/switches as discussed above.

We recorded $36.9$42.8 million in fiscal 2005, $36.5 million in fiscal 2004 $31.2and $31.0 million in fiscal 2003 and $28.0 million in fiscal 2002 for direct expenditures relating to research and development activities. The amount of recorded expenditures is supplemented by funding received from our customers and the U.S. Government, in certain cases, which is recorded as a reduction in research and development expenditures. When we receive payments from our customers for sponsoring research and development programs, we offset those payments against direct research and development expenditures. In addition, when we receive payments from the U.S. Government under contracts where direct expenses of the contract are estimated to exceed the funding award over the life of the program, we offset the payment against reported research and development expenditures. In fiscal 2005, 2004 2003 and 2002,2003, customers funded zero, $500,000zero and $9.0 million,$500,000, respectively, for programs that offset research and development costs. The majority of this funding was received from companies in which we have made investments. For example, anAn affiliate of Lighthouse Technologies Limited (Lighthouse) in

which we havehad an investment, was our only source of customer funding in fiscal 2003. In fiscal 2002, Microvision, Inc. (Microvision), the Lighthouse affiliate and Xemod, Inc. (Xemod) funded $4.4 million, $3.0 million and $492,000, respectively, of our research and development. We held an investment in each of these companies at the time that they provided research and development funding to us. In addition, Spectrian, historically the largest customer for our Cree Microwave segment, also participated in funding our research and development programs for $1.1 million in fiscal 2002. When customers participate in funding our research and development programs, we record the amount funded as a reduction of research and development expenses. At this time, we do not expect funding for research and development during fiscal 2005 from these or any other customers or any third parties in which we invested. U.S. Government funding that offset costs included as research and development was zero, zero and $276,000 for fiscal 2004, 2003 and 2002, respectively.

Sales and Marketing

We actively market our LED, wafer, RF, microwave and power products through targeted promotions, select advertising and attendance at trade shows. Our direct sales force and senior management work with customers around the world. The production of lamp and display products incorporating LED chips is concentrated among a relatively small number of LED packaging manufacturers. Our sales and marketing team is based in our Durham, North Carolina facility with additional sales and application support offices in Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan. We also have a salesperson based in Taiwan.Taiwan and two sales managers in Korea. We have targeted Asia as a fast growing market for our products and believe that our sales in Asia have increasedcontinued to increase, in part as a direct result of localizing our Asian sales presence.

Supported by our Japan office, Sumitomo is our exclusive distribution partner for nitride LED chips and SiC and GaN wafers in Japan. We also use distributors to market our LED products in Hong Kong, China, Korea and Taiwan in coordination with our sales support office in Hong Kong and our salesperson based in Taiwan. We use a separate network of distributors and sales representatives to market our GaN materials, RF and microwave devices, power devices and high power packaged LED products in North America, Japan, Europe and Asia.

We sell SiC crystal materials for use in gemstone applications directly to C&C under an exclusive supply agreement.

Customers

During fiscal 2004,2005, revenues from Sumitomo (which represent sales to approximately 20 Japanese LED customers as well as a number of wafer customers) accounted for 33%41% of our total revenue. Sumitomo assists in managing customer relationships and imports, handles orders, distributes our products and manages accounts receivable for the Japanese customer base. For fiscal 2004,2005, four of our top ten end customers were located in Japan and their sales, as well as sales to our other Japanese customers, are reported as sales to Sumitomo. Cree Japan’sOur sales team based in Tokyo, Japan is actively involved with Sumitomo in the sales process to accounts in Japan. Our relationship with our end customers in Japan is critical to our future success. Sales to

Sumitomo and OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH (OSRAM) and Agilent Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, (Agilent) during fiscal 2004 were 13% and 13%, of revenue, respectively.

Sumitomo, OSRAM and Agilent were ourthe only customers that individually comprised 10% or more of our revenue for fiscal 2004.2005. Sales to OSRAM were 11% of revenue during fiscal 2005. In Octoberfiscal 2004, revenues from Sumitomo, OSRAM and Agilent Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Agilent) represented 33%, 13% and 13%, respectively, of total revenues. During fiscal 2003 we signed an agreement withrevenues from Sumitomo, OSRAM which was amended in March 2004. Under the agreement, OSRAM committed to purchase at least 500 million LEDs through June 2005.and Agilent were 24%, 21% and 10% respectively, of total revenues. The loss of OSRAM Agilent or any of Sumitomo’s large customers could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operation. Revenue from the U.S. Government, representing funding from several agencies,

made up 6% of total revenues for fiscal 2005, compared to 9% of total revenue for fiscal 2004.2004 and 12% of total revenue in fiscal 2003. As our U.S. Government contracts are with multiple agencies, the U.S. Government does not act as a single customer, and we do not regard it as such. DuringIn fiscal 2003, revenues from three customers, Sumitomo, OSRAM2005 and Agilent were 24%, 21%, and 10%, of total revenue, respectively. Revenue from the U.S. Government, representing funding from several agencies, made up 12% of total revenue for fiscal 2003. During fiscal 2002, revenues from three customers, OSRAM,

Spectrian and Sumitomo, were 19%, 16% and 14%, of total revenue, respectively. Revenue from the U.S. Government, representing funding from several agencies, made up 12% of total revenue for fiscal 2002. Prior to fiscal 2003, sales to Spectrian, which was purchased in 2002 by Remec, Inc. (REMEC), were 99% of Cree Microwave’s revenue. In fiscal 2004, sales to Remec, Inc. made up 12% and 43%, respectively, of Cree Microwave sales. We continue to pursue new customers for our Cree Microwave business and have had some recent success on designs with our newer products serving the wireless infrastructure and mil-aero markets. Based upon conversations with our customer, we target sales to Remec to decline in fiscal 2005 and therefore new customer orders will be critical to continue to grow revenue for this segment. For further financial information about foreign and domestic sales, please see Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Other Matters,” to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report.

Backlog

As of June 26, 2005, we had a backlog of approximately $303.2 million, consisting of approximately $229.7 million of product orders and $73.5 million under research contracts signed with the U.S. Government, for which approximately $57.6 million of the contracted funds have not yet been appropriated.The backlog includes the full amount of Sumitomo’s purchase commitment for fiscal 2006, which may vary under certain circumstances subject to end customer demand and other terms and conditions described above under the caption “Distributorship Agreement with Sumitomo Corporation.” As of June 27, 2004, we had a backlog of approximately $248.5 million consisting of approximately $192.8 million of product orders and $55.7 million under research contracts signed with the U.S. Government, for which a portion of the contracted funds have not yet been appropriated. TheGovernment.This backlog includes the full amount of Sumitomo’s purchase commitment for fiscal 2005, which may vary under certain circumstances subject to end customer demand and other terms and conditions described above under the caption “Distributorship Agreement with Sumitomo Corporation.” We estimate our entire backlog could be filled during fiscal 2005, with the exception of approximately $33.7 million in U.S. Government funded contracts. As of June 29, 2003, we had a backlog of approximately $152.5 million consisting of approximately $108.9 million of product orders and $43.6 million under research contracts signed with the U.S. Government, for which a portion of the contracted funds had not yet been appropriated. This backlogalso included the full amount of Sumitomo’s purchase commitment. Our backlog could be adversely affected if Sumitomo or other customers fail to honor their purchase commitments or reduce or cancel orders or if the U.S. Government exercises its rights to terminate the government contracts or does not appropriate and allocate all of the funding contemplated by the contracts. We estimate our entire backlog could be filled during fiscal 2006, with the exception of approximately $44.8 million in U.S. Government funded contracts.

In May 2004,2005, we amended and restated our existing distributorship agreement with Sumitomo extending the term of the agreement through 2007.Sumitomo. For fiscal year 2005,2006, Sumitomo’s current advance purchase commitment is approximately $160$200 million, subject to adjustment and cancellation provisions and end customer demand.The orders cover demand for our products in Japan and represent sales to over twenty20 LED packagers, including Stanley Electric Co., Ltd. (Stanley), Citizen Electronics Co., Ltd. (Citizen), Sharp Corporation (Sharp) and Rohm Co., Ltd. (Rohm). In October 2003,June 2005, we signed a new purchase agreement with OSRAM, which was amended in March 2004.OSRAM. The agreement covers the terms of shipments to be made through June 2005,2008, but does not specifycommit OSRAM to purchase any specific products to be purchased by OSRAM each quarter.products. Therefore, we only account for amounts set forth in purchase orders from OSRAM as firm backlog.As of June 27, 2004 we had approximately six weeks of orders from OSRAM as firm backlog.

Sources of Raw Materials

We depend on a limited number of suppliers for certain raw materials, components and equipment used in our products, including certain key materials and equipment used in our crystal growth, wafering, polishing, epitaxial deposition, device fabrication and device assembly processes. We generally purchase these limited source items pursuant to purchase orders and have limited guaranteed supply arrangements with our suppliers.

Competition

Our success depends on our ability to keep pace with the evolving technology standards of the industries that we serve. These industries are characterized by rapid technological change, frequent introduction of new products, short product life cycles and changes in end-userend user and customer requirements.

The evolving nature of these industries may render our existing or future products obsolete, noncompetitive or unmarketable. Any of these developments could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

LEDsLED Products

Blue, Green and Near UV LED Chips.    The primary competition for our LED chip products comes from companies that manufacture and or sell nitride-based LED chips. We expect many LED competitors to substantially increase their capacity to manufacture LED chips during the next twelve months. We also consider Nichia Corporation

(Nichia), which sells packaged LEDs and most often competes directly with our chip customers, to be a competitor. Nichia currently sells the majority of its packaged LED products to markets requiring white LEDs, which Nichia fabricates using its efficient phosphor solution for blue LEDs. We believe that Nichia currently has the largest market share for nitride-based LEDs based on conversations withindustry information.We also believe Nichia will be very aggressive in product pricing during fiscal 2006, especially as it attempts to defend market share against gains that we target that our customers. Wecustomers may make using our die.We see an opportunity to improve our customers’ ability to compete with Nichia’s white LED products and increase our chip sales with our recently introduced XT-21, chip,XT-24 and XT-27 chips, based on reports from customers that they are able to produce a white LEDLEDs with our XT-21 chipthese chips that isare similar in brightness output to Nichia’s white LED. However, this opportunity also depends upon our customers’ ability to source or develop efficient phosphor solutions for the conversion to white light that can compete with Nichia’s solution. It also depends on our customers’ ability to achieve certain packaging efficiencies with our chips.

Many Asia-based chip producers also produce blue, green and near UV LED products. They traditionally have been successful in securing new business, primarily in Asia for the blue and white keypad backlight for mobile appliances and other cost sensitive applications. Some ofAs these Asia-based competitors offerhave begun offering chips with brightness similar to some of our existing high-brightness products.products, they are now also making inroads into higher end applications like camera flash units. We believe we can compete effectively in these markets with products such as our UT230 chips, used in keypad handset applications. These chips deliver competitive performance and a low price for blue LEDs.

Our customers indicate that they base their nitride LED purchases on a combination of factors. These factors include price, performance, reliability, quality, usability and stability of supply, intellectual property, customer service and overall customer relationships. Based on conversations with our customers, we believe that our products have an advantage over our competitors’ chips in many of these areas and that we are more successful when end customers value a combination of these factors. The particular combination and importance of specific factors that drive customers’ purchasing decisions at any time varies, depending on market conditions, requirements for end user applications and demand for those applications.Overall, we believe that price and performance are the most significant factors to compete successfully in the nitride LED market and that our products are well positioned to meet the market demands. We continually strive to improve our competitive position by developing brighter and higher performance LED chips and focusing on lowering costs. For example, we target to migrate the majoritymigrated some of our LED production to three-inch wafers from two-inch wafers during fiscal 2005 which is intendedand we will continue our transition to increase our LED production yield and lowerlarger wafer sizes in fiscal 2006. Larger wafers have lowered our overall LED chip cost.cost for certain products.

High Power Packaged LEDs.    The market for power chip products and high power packaged lamps is currently limited to specialty lighting applications. Lumileds Lighting, LLC (Lumileds) currently is positioned as the leader in this market since they haveit has been the only productionmost active supplier of high power packaged LEDs for the last few years. Lumileds sells high power packaged LEDs that compete indirectly with our target customers for power chip products and directly with our XLamp family of high power packaged lamps. Several other companies have announced intentions to enter this market with products designed to compete with our XLamp products. We are positioning our XLamp productproducts to compete in this market based on price, performance and usability.

SiC and GaN Materials Products

The market for SiC wafers has become more competitive in recent years, as other companies have begun to offer SiC wafer products or have announced plans to do so. To our knowledge, none of these competitors currently offer SiC wafers that are being used for device production.in high volume manufacturing. We sell SiC wafers to

OSRAM, and Infineon, which competecompetes with us in the LED and power diode markets, respectively.markets. In addition to being a large customer of our LED chips, OSRAM, which licensed certain LED technology from us in 1995, currently is producing LEDs using nitride materials on SiC substrates for use in their packages. We are not aware of any other company who producessell SiC wafers to Infineon Technologies

AG (Infineon), which competes with us in power switching semiconductor markets. Norstel AB has entered into an agreement to provide SiC materials to C&C as a second source for use in gemstones although we believe there are some companies pursuing research and development in this area. The market for bulk GaN wafers is becoming increasingly competitive as Sumitomo Electric and others are currently selling wafers to these markets.gemstones.

High Power Products

SiC-based Power Devices

.    Our SiC-based power devices compete with similar devices offered by Infineon. There are also a number of other companies developing SiC-based power devices. Our products also compete with existing silicon-based power devices offered by a variety of manufacturers.

RF and Microwave Transistors

.    Currently, there are no companies offering products that compete directly with our SiC MESFET products and MMIC foundry service, although a few companies have products under development. Although there are no direct competitors using SiC technology, our products face competition from existing silicon and GaAs-based products. We do not currently offer GaN microwave devices, but we are working to develop these products. In the GaN microwave area, there are a number of companies working to develop these products.

The markets served by Cree Microwave’s LDMOS and bipolar products are highly competitive. Currently Motorola’s LDMOS business (which was recently spun out into Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.) dominates this marketplace, which we believe is due to the performance and pricing of its products in comparison to our products and others currently available in the market.

Near UV Laser Diodes

We currently do not offer any laser products commercially. The major competitors in the near UV laser market are Nichia and Sony, Corporation, as well as a number of other companies that have announced development activities in this area. The market for blue laser products is just beginning to emerge. In addition to our development efforts, there are also a number of companies working on developing near UV laser diodes.

Patents and Proprietary Rights

We seek to protect our proprietary technology by applying for patents where appropriate and in other cases by preserving the technology and related know-how and information as trade secrets. We have also from time to time acquired, through license grants or assignments, rights to patents on inventions originally developed by others. As of July 15, 2004,2005, we owned or held exclusive rights licensed under a total of 251284 issued U.S. patents, subject in some cases to non-exclusive license rights held by third parties. These patents expire between 2007 and 2022.2026. We jointly own foursix of these patents with third parties. Thirty-six of these patents relate primarily to our Cree Microwave segment. In addition, we own or hold exclusive license rights under corresponding patents and patent applications in various foreign countries.

Among the patent licenses we hold are exclusive licenses granted by North Carolina State University (NCSU) to its U.S. and corresponding foreign patents and patent applications that relate to SiC materials and device technology and to GaN growth technology. These licenses include rights under patents and patent applications relating to processes for growing single crystal SiC and low defect GaN materials. The licenses are worldwide, exclusive licenses to manufacture, use and sell products and processes covered by the claims

of patents issued on applications filed by NCSU relating to the licensed inventions. The U.S. Government holds non-exclusive licenses from us to use for government purposes certain of our inventions that were developed under contracts with them. The licenses relating to the growth of bulk single crystal SiC and to other SiC materials and device technology are fully-paid, while the licenses relating to growth of low defect GaN materials require us to pay NCSU royalties on sales of products made using the licensed processes.

The patents that we have licensed from NCSU relating to bulk SiC growth expire beginning in 2007, and we may face increased competition in the market for SiC materials as these patents expire. In addition, in the event our licenses to the U.S. patents owned by NCSU relating to SiC growth were to be terminated under the terms of our license agreement, we could potentially be enjoined from practicing the patented process. In that event the business of our entire Cree segment could be disrupted since the segment is critically dependent on our ability to manufacture bulk single crystal SiC material. Similarly, if our license to the patents relating to growth of low defect GaN materials were to be terminated, it could have a material adverse effect on our ability to produce GaN-based laser diodes or other future products we expect to manufacture using the patented processes.

We also have entered into license agreements with the licensing agencies of other universities, and with other companies, under which we have obtained exclusive or non-exclusive rights to practice inventions claimed in various patents and applications issued or pending in the U.S. and other foreign countries. We do not believe the financial obligations under any of these agreements, or the loss of the licensed rights under any of these agreements, would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operation. These license agreements include a patent cross-license agreement covering GaN-based optoelectronic technology that we entered into with Nichia in November 2002 in connection with a settlement of patent and related litigation then pending between the parties in the United States and Japan. Japan and a patent cross-license agreement covering white LED technology that we entered into with Nichia in February 2005.

These license agreements also include license rights granted to us by the Trustees of Boston University (Boston University) under certain U.S. patents and corresponding foreign patents and patent applications which relate to the manufacture of certain GaN-based structures on sapphire and other substrates. The license agreement with Boston University grants us an exclusive, worldwide royalty-bearing license under these patents and patent applications, subject to royalty payments and other obligations under the license agreement. Termination of the license to this patent by Boston University would end our right to assert the patent against future infringements. In May 2005, we entered into licensing agreements with several strategic chip customers, including Stanley and Rohm of Japan, and Cotco Holdings, Ltd. of Hong Kong. These agreements provide rights to manufacture and sell white LEDs incorporating our high performance LED chips. We believe such licensing agreements with our competitors and strategic customers serve to defend and strengthen our proprietary technology and intellectual property rights in key markets.

For proprietary technology that is not patented or otherwise published, we seek to protect the technology and related know-how and information as trade secrets and to maintain it in confidence through appropriate non-disclosure agreements with employees and others to whom the information is disclosed. There can be no assurance that these agreements will provide meaningful protection against unauthorized disclosure or use of our confidential information or that our proprietary technology and know-how will not otherwise become known or independently discovered by others. We also rely upon other intellectual property rights such as trademarks and copyright where appropriate.

Environmental Regulation

We are subject to a variety of federal, state and local provisions enacted or adopted regulating the discharge of materials into the environment or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment. These include statutory and regulatory provisions under which we are responsible for the management of hazardous materials we use and the disposition of hazardous wastes resulting from our manufacturing processes. Failure to comply with such provisions, whether intentional or inadvertent, could result in fines and other liabilities to the government or third parties, injunctions requiring us to suspend or curtail operations or other remedies, and could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Employees

As of June 27, 2004,26, 2005, we employed 1,235 people, consisting of1,322 regular full time and temporary employees, including 9651,015 in manufacturing operations, 196195 in research and development and 74112 in sales and general administration. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or subject to collective bargaining agreements.

Available Information

We maintain a website at the address www.cree.com. We are not including the information contained on our website as a part of, or incorporating it by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We make available free of charge through our website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish such material to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These reports may be accessed by following the link under “News & Investor—SEC Filings” on our website.

Item 2.     Properties

We own our facilitiesprincipal manufacturing and office site in Durham, North Carolina where we conduct the business forof our Cree segment is conducted. We presently maintainsegment. This site includes approximately 48 acres of developed land, with total facility square footage of 521,747.521,747 square feet as of June 26, 2005. This space includes 289,772 square feet used for production, 81,751 square feet used for servicefacility services and warehousing and 150,224 square feet used for

administrative support.functions. At June 26, 2005, an additional building containing approximately 150,000 square feet is under construction on this site. We also own approximately 80 acres of undeveloped land near our production facilities potentially for future expansion.the site. In addition, in January 2005, we purchased an existing semiconductor manufacturing facility located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. This facility is on approximately 55 acres and includes buildings containing 228,650 square feet. As of June 26, 2005, we have not yet commenced any operations at this site.

We also maintain a three-year leasesales support offices, through our Cree Japan subsidiary for ansubsidiaries, in leased office premises in Tokyo, Japan and Hong Kong. We had a lease for another sales and marketing activities that expiresoffice location in June 2005. We also contract the use of a facility for sales and marketing efforts for our Cree Asia-Pacific subsidiary in Kowloon, Hong Kong that expiresexpired in July 2005. We lease a 35,840 square foot facility occupied by SBTC in Goleta, California that is used for research and development and administrative functions.

The facility used forAs of June 26, 2005, the operations of our Cree Microwave segment isare conducted in approximately 49,600 square feet of administrative and manufacturing space located in Sunnyvale, California. Our Cree Microwave subsidiary currently maintainsleases this space under a sublease agreement that expires in 2011. We have guaranteed the obligations of our subsidiary under the sublease.

We lease In June 2005, we announced plans to discontinue manufacturing operations at this site by December 2005, and we intend to seek a facilitytenant to sublease the leased premises for our Santa Barbara Technology Center in Goleta, California (formerly Cree Lighting Company) for our Cree segment. The lease for this facility, which covers 35,840 square feet, has been extended until August 2010. This facility is used for research and development and administration. Our previously reported subleasethe remainder of 10,217 square feet of this facility to a third party expired in July 2004.the term.

Item 3.     Legal Proceedings

In re Cree, Inc. Securities Litigation

Between June 16 and August 18, 2003, certain alleged purchasers of our stock filed nineteen purported class action lawsuits were filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina by certain alleged purchasers of our stock.Carolina. The lawsuits name us, certain of our officers and current and former directors as defendants. On December 17, 2003, the court entered an order consolidating these actions and appointing a lead plaintiff and lead counsel for the consolidated cases. The lead plaintiff filed a consolidated amended complaint on January 16, 2004. The amended complaint asserts,asserted, among other claims, violations of federal securities laws, including violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Rule 10b-5, and violations of Section 20(a) and Section 18 of the Exchange Act against the individual defendants and also assertsasserted claims against certain of our officers under Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The amended complaint allegesalleged that we made false and misleading statements concerning our investments in

certain public and privately heldprivately-held companies, our acquisition of the UltraRF division of Spectrian, our supply agreement with Spectrian, our agreements with C&C and our employment relationship with Eric Hunter and that our financial statements did not comply with the requirements of the securities laws during the class period. The amended complaint requestsrequested certification of a plaintiff class consisting of purchasers of Creeour stock between August 12, 1998 and June 13, 2003 and seeks,sought, among other relief, unspecified damages and disgorgement of profits by the individual defendants, plus costs and expenses, including attorneys’, accountants’ and experts’ fees.

In February 2004, we moved that the court dismiss the consolidated amended complaint on the grounds that it fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and doesdid not satisfy the pleading requirements under applicable law. On August 30, 2004, the court entered an order granting the motion to dismiss without prejudice and allowing the plaintiffs a period of time in which to file an amended consolidated complaint. The plaintiffs filed a further amended complaint on October 14, 2004, asserting essentially the same claims and seeking the same relief as in their prior complaint. We filed a motion is currently pending.

We believeto dismiss this further amended complaint. On August 2, 2005, the court entered an order granting our motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ amended complaint in its entirety with prejudice, thus bringing an end to the lawsuit, subject to any appeal that the claims set forth in the amended complaint are without merit. However, we are unable to predict the final outcome of these matters with certainty. Our failure to successfully defend against these allegations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.plaintiffs may file.

SEC and Nasdaq InquiriesNeumark v. Cree, Inc.

On June 27, 2005, Gertrude Neumark Rothschild commenced a patent infringement lawsuit against us by filing a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In July 2003,her complaint, the SEC initiated an informal inquiry regarding us and requested

plaintiff alleges that we voluntarily provide certain information.are is infringing U.S. Patent No. 4,904,618, entitled “Process for Doping Crystals of Wide Band Gap Semiconductors,” and U.S. Patent No. 5,252,499, entitled “Wide Band-Gap Semiconductors Having Low Bipolar Resistivity and Method of Formation,” by manufacturing, importing, using, selling and/or offering for sale LEDs and/or laser diodes created using processes claimed in the patents. The complaint seeks damages in an unspecified amount, an injunction against infringements, attorneys’ fees and costs. We have cooperated with the SEC in this informal inquiry. In August 2003, the Nasdaq National Market (Nasdaq) requested information from us regarding the informal inquiry being conducted by the SEC andnot yet filed our then pending litigation, and we have provided information to Nasdaq in response to these requests. We are unable to predict whether these inquiries will continue or result in any adverse action.answer.

Other Matters

We are currently a party to other legal proceedings incidental to our business. Although the final resolution of these other matters cannot be predicted with certainty, management’s present judgment is that the final outcome of these matters will not likely have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations. If an unfavorable resolution occurs in these legal proceedings, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

Item 4.     Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

No matters were submitted to a vote of security holders during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004.2005.

PART II

Item 5.     Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Common Stock Market Information.    Our common stock is traded in the Nasdaq National Market and is quoted under the symbol CREE. The following table sets forth, for the quarters indicated, the high and low sales prices as reported by Nasdaq. Quotations represent interdealer prices without an adjustment for retail markups, markdowns or commissions.

Holders and Dividends.    There were approximately 777710 holders of record of our common stock as of July 29, 2004.27, 2005.

We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate that we will do so in the foreseeable future. There are no contractual restrictions in place that currently materially limit, or are likely in the future to materially limit, us from paying dividends on our common stock, but applicable state law may limit the payment of dividends. Our present policy is to retain earnings, if any, to provide funds for the operation and expansion of our business.

Sale of Unregistered Securities.    There were no sales of unregistered securities during fiscal 2005, 2004 2003 or 2002.2003.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Company and Affiliated Purchasers.    The following table lists all repurchases (both open market and private transactions) during the fourth quarter of fiscal 20042005 of any of our securities registered under Section 12 of the Exchange Act, by or on behalf of us, or any affiliated purchaser.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Item 6.     Selected Financial Data

The consolidated statement of operations data set forth below with respect to the fiscal years ended June 26, 2005, June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003 and June 30, 2002 and the consolidated balance sheet data at June 27, 200426, 2005 and June 29, 200327, 2004 are derived from, and are qualified by reference to, the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report and should be read in conjunction with those financial statements and notes thereto. The consolidated statement of operations data for the fiscal years ended June 24, 200130, 2002 and June 25, 200024, 2001 and the consolidated balance sheet data at June 29, 2003, June 30, 2002 and June 24, 2001 and June 25, 2000 are derived from audited consolidated financial statements not included herein. All consolidated statement of operations and consolidated balance sheet data shown below are adjusted to reflect the acquisition of Nitres, effective May 1, 2000. This transaction was accounted for under the pooling of interests method. We acquired the business comprising the Cree Microwave, segmentacquired in December 2000. This transaction was accounted for under the purchase method. We acquired the GaN substrate and epitaxy business of ATMI in the fourth quarter of 2004. This acquisition was accounted for under the purchase method. All share amounts have been restated to reflect our two-for-one stock splits effective July 26, 1999 and December 1, 2000.

Selected Consolidated Financial Data

(In thousands, except per share data)

Item 7.    Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation

Business Overview

We develop and manufacture semiconductor materials and electronic devices made from SiC, GaN silicon and related compounds. The majority of our products are currently produced inmanufactured at our factorymain production facility in Durham, North Carolina. We generate revenues from the following product lines:

We also derive revenue from the sale of semiconductor wafers and epitaxy products made from

Through our Cree Microwave segment, based in Sunnyvale, California, weWe also develop and manufacture RF power transistors and modules using silicon technology. During fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2003, approximately 3% and 1%, respectively, of ourgenerate revenue came from the sale of RF devices from our Cree Microwave segment. These RF power transistors are a key semiconductor component for power amplifiers that are used in base stations to boost the power of a signal so that it can reach a wireless phone or other device within a designated geography.

The balance of our revenue, 9% for fiscal 2004 and 12% for fiscal 2003, is derived from contract research funding. Under various programs, U.S.under contracts with government agencies. Government entities assist us in the development of new technology by funding our research and development efforts. Contract revenue includesRevenue from contract research funding for direct research and development costs and a portionrepresented 6% of our generalrevenue in fiscal 2005 and administrative expenses and other operating expenses for contracts under which we expect funding to exceed direct costs over the life9% of the contract. For contracts under which we anticipate that direct costs will exceed amounts to be funded over the life of the contract, we report direct costs as research and development expenses with related reimbursements recorded as an offset to those expenses.

Fiscal 2004 OverviewIndustry Dynamics

Our business is affected by a number of industry factors, including: trends in mobile phone designs and sales, competitive LED pricing pressures and the strength of intellectual property that supports our products. The most significant market currently for our blue and green LEDs, and white LEDs made by our customers using our blue chips is for illumination purposes in mobile phones, including LCD backlighting and keypad illumination. Industry publications estimate that overall unit sales of mobile phones for calendar year 2005 may increase up to 16% and that the full color adoption rate for mobile phones is expected to increase, but at a slower rate than in the past few years. LED sales for mobile phone applications are impacted by the number of LEDs used in an application, which may vary depending on trends in the features of the application and the brightness of the LEDs used. Competitive LED pricing pressures in the blue and green industry arise because average LED sales prices typically decline each year as new products are introduced in key markets

and dominant market players may accelerate this trend by implementing aggressive pricing strategies to strengthen or protect market share. To remain competitive, LED producers generally must reduce the average sales price at or above the market rate. Finally, vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights characterize the semiconductor industry because customers’ purchasing decisions can be influenced by whether a product is supported by valid intellectual property rights.

Highlights and Outlook

Financial Highlights from Fiscal 2005

During fiscal 2005, we reported the highest revenue and earnings in our history. Unit sales increased 53% due to new products focused on high-brightness markets. We continued to face intense competition in our LED markets, and as a result our average sales price declined 13% in fiscal 2005. We were able to offset lower prices by reducing our average selling costs by 21% due to improved yield and our migration from two-inch to three-inch wafers, which increased our profitability. The following is a summary of our financial results:

We reported our highest annual revenue and earnings in fiscal 20042005 primarily due to customer demand for our LED chip products for the mobile appliance, automotive and LED display markets. Our LED revenue, andwhich increased 33% while our units sold increased 40% and 65%, respectively, in53% over fiscal 2004.

Revenue from high-brightness LEDs increased from 49% to 60% of total LED revenue from fiscal 2004 over the previousto fiscal year.2005. We saw the most significant increase in sales of our high-brightness LED chips, which we estimate that these products were used mostly in thefor white backlighting for keypads and LCD backlights of mobile appliances, LED video screens and automobile dashboards. We introduced new higher performance chips during fiscal 2004, including the XThin family, which is targeted for white LED applicationsLCDs in mobile appliances. Wephones and for blue and green LEDs used in gaming applications such as pachinko machines and full color displays.

Revenue from our mid-brightness chips also introduced the MegaBright Plus LED, which is designed to provide our customers with a higher level of brightness than our standard chip design. LED revenue also benefited from continued growth in sales of our original MegaBright product line, which was introducedincreased 11% in fiscal 2003. Our high-brightness products made up 49% and 35% of our LED revenue in fiscal 2004 and 2003, respectively.

Although total revenue for our mid-brightness LED chips increased in fiscal 2004, mid-brightness products represented 43% of LED revenue in fiscal 2004 as compared to 55% in fiscal 2003. Our increase in sales of mid-brightness LEDs primarily was2005 due to the introduction of the UT 230 chip products that are used fortargeting blue keypad backlighting applications including the introductionfor cost sensitive markets.

Our gross margin increased from 47% in fiscal 2004 of our RazerThin LED chip. The RazerThin product offers a smaller and thinner design and a lower forward voltage than our standard chips. The thin design offers more flexibility for smaller phones, while the lower forward voltage extends the battery lifetime for mobile appliances.to 52% in fiscal 2005.

RevenueProduct costs per unit were lower as a result of yield and process improvements and our manufacturing migration from two-inch to three-inch wafers that began in the first quarter of fiscal 2005. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 more than 40% of our LED chips were made from three-inch wafers.

Our net income increased by 57% from fiscal 2004 and was the highest in our history at $91.1 million.

Gross profit increased by $58.2 million due to higher revenue and the successful execution of our cost reduction programs.

Research and development expenses increased 17% due to our focus on developing even brighter LED chips as well as products for our standard brightness devicesemerging business areas such as high power packaged LEDs and power devices.

Net income benefited from a lower tax provision rate of 28% due primarily to tax benefits associated with our investment in a public company and other adjustments. Other factors included in the tax provision rate resulted from two offsetting tax adjustments related to the Cree Microwave subsidiary. One adjustment was a $6.5 million favorable permanent tax deduction, which was offset by a $6.7 million increase in our tax reserve.

We achieved record cash flow from operations of $175.6 million in fiscal 2005 due to higher profitability.

Capital expenditures were $141.8 million.

We repurchased 1.5 million shares of our common stock under an authorized share repurchase program at a cost of $35.3 million.

Cash and cash equivalents and short and long-term investments increased 23%from $230.9 million in fiscal 2004 in comparison to fiscal 2003. These standard brightness devices are used for automotive and indicator light applications requiring high quality and a competitive price point. Standard brightness products were approximately 8% and 10% of our LED revenue$277.3 million in fiscal 2004 and 2003, respectively.2005.

During fiscal 2004, SiC and GaN materials revenue increased 11% over the prior fiscal year due to a 17% increase in the average sales price receivedOutlook for our wafers and epitaxy products. The higher average sales price resulted from a change in our product mix. Additionally, materials revenue included $398,000 of GaN wafer and epitaxy sales, which is part of the business we acquired from ATMI in April 2004. Revenue from sales of SiC materials for use in gemstones was 32% lower in fiscal 2004 due to lower yields and reduced customer demand. SiC gemstone materials sales were 2% of our overall fiscal 2004 revenue. Sales of our SiC-based power devices and SiC RF and microwave devices combined increased 338% in fiscal 2004; however, these sales only made up 1% of our total revenue.

Cree Microwave’s revenue for silicon-based microwave products increased 176% in fiscal 2004. This growth was achieved due to new design wins for bipolar and LDMOS devices that service the wireless infrastructure and mil-aero markets.

Government contract revenue was flat in fiscal 2004 as compared to fiscal 2003, as increased cost-sharing provisions on existing and new contracts offset new awards realized during fiscal 2004. In May 2004, we were awarded two contracts through the Robert Morris Acquisition Center, providing for up to $25.8 million over five years. These contracts focus on the development of manufacturing technology for high-temperature, high-power SiC semiconductor material and power devices for use in electric traction drive power components and associated power conditioning and control electronics for the next-generation of combat vehicles. Additionally, fiscal 2004 revenues included $782,000 of fourth quarter contract sales from the business unit we acquired from ATMI in April 2004.Fiscal 2006

In fiscal 2005,2006, we anticipate that selling blue LED chips for white LED lamps in mobile appliances and other applicationsphones will continue to be an important growth opportunity. Based on trends in the industry, we believe that a greater percentage of cell phones and other handheld electronics will use white LEDs as a backlight for the keypad and for full color screens in fiscal 2005. We recently have introduced a family of XThin LED devices

that target these and other applications. We also are working to increase the brightness forof the XThin family of products from 21 milliwatts to 27 milliwatts in the first half of fiscal 2005.products. If we are successful in developing brighter LEDs, we believe that we will have an opportunity to continue to gain market share in the color LCD backlight market for cellmobile phones that use white LEDs. We believe that we currently have low penetration in this particular market because previously, when our customers packaged our LEDs as white LEDs, they were not as bright as somedue to Nichia’s dominant share of the packaged white products sold by Nichia. Nichia currently has an efficient phosphor solution that makes its white conversion products brighter than our customers’ products.market. With our higher performance XThin chips, we target that white LED products packaged by some of our customers can be as bright or brighter than products sold by Nichia.Nichia, but we must continue to work with our customers to optimize package designs. Based on information available to us,conversations with our customers, we also believe markets for ourother high-brightness LED applications, such as specialty lighting, gaming machine designs, displays automotive and other applications, will continue to grow in fiscal 2005.2006.

We also recently introducedcontinue to expand our product offerings of our XLamp family of high-power packaged LED products. We are aiming to increase sales of XLamp products in July 2004. We target these new products forthe specialty lighting markets, including channel letters, appliance lights, flashlights and reading lights. As automotive headlight and large screen LED applications emerge, we intend to position our XLamp products to serve these markets.

We believe that our competitors around the world are increasing their capacity for the LED market and we factor these considerations into our expansion plans. Despite the evolving competitive pressures, and additional capacity that is anticipated to come on-line in the next year from us and our competitors, we targetexpect that our business will increase if we are successful in developing higher performance, low cost LED chips. We believe our proprietary SiC platform and vertically integrated factory provides us with the opportunity to increase our brightness and lower our cost by scaling to larger sized wafers. Currently, someSome of our significant challenges for fiscal 20052006 include increasing the output from our factory in North Carolina and expanding our facilities, migratingsubcontractor’s facility in Asia, continuing the migration of our LED production to three-inch wafers and developing brighter XThin and other LED products. We are planning to invest $100-120$90-110 million during fiscal 20052006 in capital equipment additions and increasing employee headcount to expand our factory output and to improve our yields. We plan to continue to migrate the majoritymore of our LED production from two-inch to three-inch SiC wafers over the next four quarters,during fiscal 2006, which we target towill greatly increase the number of yielded LED chips per wafer and therefore lower our overall LED chip cost. However, the initial three-inch conversion may cause short-term yield challenges as we work to fully integrate the larger wafer size into production. We also target to increaseare focusing on increasing the brightness for the XThin family of products in fiscal 2005,2006, and we must work with our customers to get these and other products designed into key applications so that we can assist them to gain market share with these products. We also may increase our research and development spending as a percentage of revenue over our fiscal 2005 level.

With the strength of our balance sheet and operating cash flows, we also are evaluating strategic investments and relationships to expand and strengthen our product portfolio and to better position us in terms of access to markets and distribution channels. We do not need these investments to meet our operating goals for fiscal 2006, but we see potential opportunities to accelerate our growth longer term and we plan to actively explore our options.

Critical Accounting Policies

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. In preparing our financial statements, we must make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements. CriticalWe base our assumptions, estimates and judgments on historical experience, current trends and other factors that management believes to be relevant at the time the consolidated financial statements are prepared. On a regular basis, management reviews our accounting policies, include thoseassumptions, estimates and judgments to ensure that our financial statements are presented fairly and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. However, because future events and their effects cannot be determined with certainty, actual results could differ from our assumptions and estimates, and we may be exposed to gains or losses that could be material.

Our significant accounting policies are discussed in Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Other Matters”, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Management believes that the following accounting policies are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results, and they require management’s most difficult, subjective or complex judgments, resulting from the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are reflective of significant judgments and uncertainties, which potentially could produce materially different results under different assumptions and conditions. We believe that ourinherently uncertain. Management has reviewed these critical accounting policies are limited to those described below.

Valuationand related disclosures with our independent auditor and the Audit Committee of Long-Lived Assets, Intangible Assets and Goodwill.    We have approximately $393.1 millionour Board of long-lived assets as of June 27, 2004, including approximately $293.2 million related to fixed assets and capitalized patents, $72.7 million in long-term investments held to maturity, $22.0 million in long-term marketable securities available for sale and $5.2 million of other long term assets, including net investments in privately held companies of $2.9 million and long-term deposits of $2.3 million. In addition to the original cost of these assets, their recorded value is impacted by a number of management estimates that are determined based on our judgment, including estimated useful lives, salvage values and, in 2002, impairment charges. In accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 144,

“Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets” (SFAS 144), we record impairment charges on long-lived assets used in operations when events and circumstances indicate that the assets have been impaired. In making these determinations, we utilize certain assumptions, including, but not limited to: (i) estimationsDirectors. Please see Note 2 of the fair market value of the assets, and (ii) estimations of future cash flows expectedNotes to be generated by these assets, which are based on additional assumptions such as asset utilization, length of service the asset will be used in our operations and estimated salvage values. For example, we recorded an impairment charge for long-lived assets of $790,000 for the three months ended June 27, 2004 for obsolete production equipment that was taken out of service and destroyed. During the second and third quarters of fiscal 2004, our Cree Microwave segment identified certain equipment that was written off because we determined the equipment would not be used and it was unable to sell the equipment to a third party. The total amount of this write-off was $173,000. We also recorded a $1.4 million impairment charge for the three months ended December 29, 2002, due to the election by management to discontinue a novel epitaxy reactor project. During fiscal 2002, we determined certain property and equipment was impaired under SFAS No.121, “Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and for Long-Lived Assets to Be Disposed of”, which was the relevant accounting pronouncement at the time, and as a result, we recorded impairment charges of $19.0 million.

During the third quarter of fiscal 2002, we completed an impairment analysis of the intangible assets and goodwill related to the acquisition of Cree Microwave. This analysis was performed due to significant changes in business conditions at the operating segment. First, Cree Microwave amended its supply agreement with Spectrian effective March 31, 2002, which resulted in a significant reduction in quarterly revenue expectations. In addition, Cree Microwave’s outlook for acquiring additional customers in the near term weakened due to delays in the development of LDMOS8 technology, the overall deteriorating economic conditions and long product qualification cycles. Also, the principal products that Spectrian indicated it would consider purchasing from Cree Microwave in the future were not fully qualified and, subsequently not released to production at the time. As a result of this impairment analysis, we estimated that the future cash flows of the Cree Microwave business would not be sufficient to provide for recovery of the carrying value of its intangible assets and goodwill. Therefore, the remaining balance of intangible assets and goodwill of $76.5 million was deemed fully impaired and was written off in March 2002. In November 2002, we entered into an agreement terminating our supply contract with Spectrian, and, due to the changed circumstances, management performed an impairment analysis of the tangible assets at Cree Microwave as of June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003 in accordance with SFAS 144. Based on estimations of the fair market value of the assets, and estimations of future cash flows, we determined that the estimated undiscounted cash flow exceeded the amount of the book value of the long-term tangible assets. As a result, no additional Cree Microwave assets were deemed impaired or written down at that time.

We also review our capitalized patent portfolio and record impairment charges when circumstances warrant, such as when issued patents have been abandoned or patent applications are no longer being pursued. As of June 27, 2004, June 29, 2003 and June 30, 2002, we had no impairments of our patents.

Accounting for Non-Marketable and Marketable Equity Securities.    From time to time, we make strategic investments in the equity securities of privately held companies. Since we do not have the ability to exercise significant influence over the operations of these companies, these investment balances are carried at cost and accounted for using the cost method of accounting. The shares of stock we received in these investments are not presently publicly traded and there is no other established market value for these securities. We have a policy in place to estimate the fair value of these investments on a regular basis to evaluate the carrying value of such investments. This policy includes, but is not limited to, reviewing each company’s cash position, estimates of the company’s market capitalization based on recent financing transactions, its earnings and revenue outlook, operational performance, management or ownership changes and competition. The evaluation process is based on information that we are provided by these privately held companies. Since these companies are not subject to the same disclosure regulations as U.S. public companies, the basis for these evaluations is subject to the timing and the accuracy of the data received from these companies. If the carrying value of an investment is determined to be an amount in excess of our

estimate of fair value, and we have determined that the decline is other-than-temporary, it is our policy to record a write-down of the investment. This write-down is estimated based on the information described above, and it is recorded as an investment loss on our consolidated statements of operations. During fiscal 2002, we recorded a write-down on these investments of $20.4 million, representing our estimate of other-than-temporary declines in value based on a review of these factors described above. Estimating the fair value of non-marketable investments in early-stage technology companies is inherently subjective and may contribute to significant volatility in our reported results of operations. There were no adjustments made to investment losses on our consolidated statements of operations during fiscal 2004 and 2003 relating to our investments in privately held companies. In June 2004, the common stock of one of the privately held companies in which we held an investment, Color Kinetics Incorporated (Color Kinetics), became publicly traded. As a result, we reclassified our investment, valued at cost at $12.7 million, from other long-term assets to a long-term marketable security on our consolidated balance sheet.

From time to time, we evaluate strategic opportunities and potential investments in complementary businesses, and as a result we may invest in marketable equity securities. We classify marketable securities that are not trading or held-to-maturity securities as available-for-sale. We carry these investments at fair value, based on quoted market prices, and unrealized gains and losses, net of taxes, areConsolidated Financial Statements, included in accumulated other comprehensive income, which is reflected as a separate componentItem 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of shareholders’ equity on the consolidated balance sheet. Realized gains and losses are recognized when realized upon sale or disposition. Declines in value that are deemed to be other-than-temporary in accordance with SFAS No. 115, “Accounting for Investments in Certain Debt and Equity Securities,” (SFAS 115) are recorded as an investment loss on our consolidated statements of operations. We have a policy in place to review our equity holdings on a periodic basis to evaluate whether or not each security has experienced an other-than-temporary decline in fair value. Our policy requires, among other things, a review of each company’s cash position, stock price performance, liquidity, ability to raise capital and any management changes. Based on this review, if we believe that an other-than-temporary decline exists in the value of one of our marketable equity securities, it is our policy to write-down these equity investments to the market value. In addition, we record a write-down for investments in publicly held companies for an other-than-temporary impairment any time the market price of the security has remained below our average cost for two consecutive fiscal quarters, unless strong positive evidence exists that makes it clear that an other-than-temporary write-down would be inappropriate under the guidance of SFAS 115. Any related write-down would then be recorded as an investment loss on our consolidated statements of operations.

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, the common stock of Color Kinetics became publicly traded and as a result, we have accounted for this investment as a marketable security that is available-for-sale under SFAS 115 as of June 27, 2004. Our investment in Color Kinetics is valued at $22.0 million, which represents the $12.7 million cost, plus a $9.3 million unrealized gain in the security based on the closing share price on June 25, 2004. As an available-for-sale security, any unrealized gain or loss is accounted for as a comprehensive income item in the equity section of the consolidated balance sheet and on the consolidated statement of shareholders’ equity and is not recorded through earnings. At June 29, 2003, we held no marketable equity securities. During the second quarter of fiscal 2003, we sold our entire position in two publicly traded companies. We sold 356,000 common shares in Microvision, Inc. (Microvision) for $1.8 million, with a net loss on the sale of $36,000 recognized during the second quarter of fiscal 2003. We also sold 691,000 common shares in Emcore Corporation (Emcore) for $2.1 million, with a net loss on the sale of $2.0 million recognized during the second quarter of fiscal 2003. During fiscal 2002, we recorded an other-than-temporary investment loss of $22.0 million related to available-for-sale marketable securities based primarily on sustained reductions in stock price performance for our investments in Microvision and Emcore.

Inventories.    Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market, cost being determined using the first-in, first-out method for finished goods and work in process accounts and the average cost method is used for raw materials for the Cree segment. The Cree Microwave segment uses a standard cost inventory costing method. We evaluate our ending inventories for excess quantities, impairment of value and obsolescence on

a monthly basis. This evaluation includes analysis of sales levels by product and projections of future demand based upon input received from our customers, sales team and management estimates. We reserve for inventories on hand that are greater than twelve months old, unless there is an identified need for the inventory. In addition, we write-off inventories that are considered obsolete based upon changes in customer demand, manufacturing process changes that result in existing inventory obsolescence or new product introductions, which eliminate demand for existing products. Remaining inventory balances are adjusted to approximate the lower of our manufacturing cost or market value. If future demand or market conditions are less favorable than our estimates, additional inventory write-downs may be required and would increase cost of revenue in the period the revision is made.

During fiscal 2004, we recorded a $258,000 reserve for slow moving inventory in Cree Microwave and a $252,000 reserve for slow moving inventory in the Cree segment. In fiscal 2003, as a result of the termination of the supply agreement with Spectrian, we recorded a $1.3 million reserve in the Cree Microwave segment for inventory that was slow moving or specifically identified to be sold to Spectrian, including customized parts. We also reserved an additional $522,000 of other slow moving inventory at Cree Microwave. This inventory charge was taken because of change in demand from Spectrian, as Spectrian initially indicated that it would have strong demand for a type of transistor and later determined that the demand had significantly weakened. During the three months ended December 29, 2002, we reserved $784,000 in the Cree segment for slow moving LED and wafer inventory. In the third quarter of fiscal 2002, we recorded a $4.5 million reserve at our Cree Microwave segment for non-LDMOS and older LDMOS devices as a result of contract negotiations with Spectrian that identified these devices as obsolete. All of these adjustments were recorded through cost of revenue. In addition, we also wrote off $1.0 million of costs associated with initial XBright products and $417,000 of costs associated with LDMOS devices as research and development expenses in the first quarter of fiscal 2003. The $1.0 million write-down was attributable to early generation XBright devices that were later determined to be non-saleable because of design deficiencies. The $417,000 write-down was associated with LDMOS products that were on hand and determined not to be saleable for similar reasons. In both cases, our customers had initially accepted the devices and we produced initial amounts of the product. Based on history with our customers, normally once products are accepted, they are ultimately qualified. Thus we concluded that capitalizing the cost of these items as inventory was appropriate. However, in both cases, our customers later rejected the products. Therefore, we wrote off the entire amount of inventory as research and development expenses, because the materials were never qualified as completed devices or ultimately sold to customers. In the case of the LED devices, our customers returned all products shipped of that technology.

Revenue Recognition and Accounts Receivable.    Revenue on product sales is recognized when persuasive evidence of a contract exists, such as when a purchase order or contract is received from the customer, the price is fixed, title of the goods has transferred and there is a reasonable assurance of collection of the sales proceeds. We obtain written purchase authorizations from our customers for a specified amount of product at a specified price and consider delivery to have occurred at the time of shipment. The majority of our products have shipping terms that are free on board (FOB) or free carrier alongside (FCA) shipping point, which means that we fulfill the obligation to deliver when the goods are handed over and into the charge of the carrier at our shipping dock. This means that the buyer bears all costs and risks of loss of or damage to the goods from that point. The difference between FOB and FCA is that under FCA terms, the customer designates a shipping carrier of choice to be used. In certain cases, we ship our product cost insurance and freight (CIF). Under this arrangement, revenue is recognized under FOB shipping point terms, however, we are responsible for the cost of insurance to transport the product as well as the cost to ship the product. For all of our sales other than those with CIF terms, we invoice our customers only for shipping costs necessary to physically move the product from our place of business to the customer’s location. The costs primarily consist of overnight shipping charges. We incur the direct shipping costs on behalf of the customer and invoice the customer to obtain direct reimbursement for such costs. We currently account for our shipping costs by recording the amount of freight that is invoiced to customers as revenue, with the corresponding cost recorded as cost of revenue. In fiscal 2004, we recognized $117,000 as revenue for shipping and handling costs. In fiscal years 2003 and 2002, we accounted for such costs as a cost of revenue

with the reimbursement of these costs reflected as a direct offset and reduction of cost of revenue. Such shipping costs were not material in those fiscal years. Except for consigned inventory, revenue is recognized from our customers at shipment. If inventory is maintained at a consigned location, revenue is recognized when our customer pulls product for its use and the title of the goods is transferred to the customer. We provide our customers with limited rights of return for non-conforming shipments and warranty claims for up to 36 months for Cree Microwave products. We accrue estimated warranty expense as a cost of revenue. We also record a reserve for estimated sales returns as a reduction of revenue at the time of revenue recognition. Significant judgments and estimates made by management are used in connection with establishing the allowance for sales returns. Material differences may result in the amount and timing of our revenue for any period if management made different judgments or utilized different estimates. The allowance for sales returns at June 27, 2004 was $798,000. For two customers, Sumitomo and OSRAM, we defer revenue equal to levels specified in contractual arrangements. This deferred revenue, which predominantly arises under the Sumitomo contract, amounted to $8.4 million and $5.5 million as of June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003, respectively. Please see the discussion in Item 1 of this report under “Distributorship Agreement with Sumitomo Corporation” for further information.

Revenue from government contracts and certain private entities is recorded on the proportional performance method as contract expenses are incurred. Contract revenue represents reimbursement by various U.S. Government entities to aid in the development of new technology. The applicable contracts generally provide that we may elect to retain ownership of inventions made in performing the work, subject to a non-exclusive license retained by the government to practice the inventions for government purposes. The contract funding may be based on either a cost-plus or a cost-share arrangement. The amount of funding under each contract is determined based on cost estimates that include direct costs, plus an allocation for research and development, general and administrative and the cost of capital expenses. Cost-plus funding is determined based on actual costs plus a set percentage margin. For the cost-share contracts, the actual costs relating to the activities to be performed by us under the contract are divided between the U.S. Government and us based on the terms of the contract. The government’s cost share is then paid to us. Activities performed under these arrangements include research regarding SiC and Group III nitride materials and devices. The contracts typically require the submission of a written report that documents the results of such research, as well as some material deliverables.

The revenue and expense classification for contract activities is based on the nature of the contract. For contracts where we anticipate that funding will exceed direct costs over the life of the contract, funding is reported as contract revenue and all direct costs are reported as costs of contract revenue. For contracts under which we anticipate that direct costs of the activities subject to the contract will exceed amounts to be funded over the life of the contract, costs are reported as research and development expenses and related funding is reported as an offset of those expenses.

Accruals for Liabilities and Warranties.    We make estimates for the amount of costs that have been incurred but not yet billed for general services, including legal and accounting fees, costs pertaining to our self-funded medical insurance, warranty costs and other expenses. Many of these expenses are estimated based on historical experience or information gained directly from the service providers.

Valuation of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities.    As of June 27, 2004, we had $2.6 million recorded as a short-term deferred tax asset and $3.9 million as a long-term deferred tax liability. This asset was recorded as a result of tax benefits associated with write-downs and reserves recorded for accounts receivable and inventory reserves that are deferred for tax purposes. The liability provides amounts due as a result of the timing difference for depreciation between book and tax purposes being offset by deferred tax benefits associated with write-downs taken for goodwill and other intangible assets, other-than-temporary charges taken on our investments and other write-downs taken in prior years. We have a reserve for taxes that may become payable in the future included in deferred tax liabilities. A valuation allowance has been established on capital loss carryforwards and unrealized losses on certain securities as we believe that it is more likely than not that the tax benefits of the items will not be realized.

It is our policy to establish reserves for taxes that may become payable in future years, and we currently have a reserve of $8.5 million for such deferred tax liabilities. We establish the reserves based upon management’s assessment of exposure associated with the tax return deduction. We analyze the tax reserves at least annually and make adjustments as events occur that warrant adjustment to the reserve. For example, if the statutory period for assessing tax on a given tax return lapses, we reduce the reserve associated with that period. Similarly, if tax authorities provide administrative guidance or a decision is rendered in the courts, we make appropriate adjustments to our tax reserve. The tax reserve was unchanged in fiscal 2004. The tax reserve increased by $3.0 million for the year ended June 29, 2003.

The above listing is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all of our accounting policies. In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by generally accepted accounting principles, with no need for management’s judgment in its application. There are also areas in which management’s judgment in selecting any available alternative would not produce a materially different result. See our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K which containfor a complete discussion of our accounting policies and other disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.policies.

Description of Policy		Judgments and Uncertainties		Effect If Actual Results Differ From Assumptions and Adjustments Recorded
Valuation of Long-Lived Assets:
We review long-lived assets such as property and equipment and patents for impairment when events and circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the assets contained in our financial statements may not be recoverable. For example, pieces of our equipment may be scrapped or certain of our patents or patent applications may be abandoned. In these cases, we would directly write-off these long-lived assets. In addition, we evaluate all of our long-lived assets for potential impairment by comparing the carrying value of our assets to the estimated future cash flows of the assets (undiscounted and without interest charges). If the estimated future cash flows are less than the carrying value of the asset, we calculate an impairment loss. The impairment loss calculation compares the carrying value of the asset to the asset’s estimated fair value, which may be based on estimated future cash flows. We recognize an impairment loss if the amount of the asset’s carrying value exceeds the asset’s estimated fair value. If we recognize an impairment loss, the adjusted carrying amount of the asset will be its new cost basis. For a depreciable (amortized) long-lived asset, the new cost basis will be depreciated (amortized) over the remaining useful life of that asset. We do not restore a previously recognized impairment loss if the asset’s carrying value decreases below its estimated fair value.		Our impairment loss calculations require management to apply judgment in estimating future cash flows and asset fair values, including estimating useful lives of the assets. To make these judgments, we may use internal discounted cash flow estimates, quoted market prices when available and independent appraisals as appropriate to determine fair value. We derive the required cash flow estimates from our internal business plans.		If actual results are not consistent with our assumptions and judgments used in estimating future cash flows and asset fair values, we may be required to record additional impairment losses that could be material to our results of operations. Using this impairment review methodology, we recorded long-lived asset impairment charges of $5.5 million during the fiscal year ended June 26, 2005 related to plans to close our Cree Microwave facility and dispose of certain assets.
Tax Contingencies:
We are subject to periodic audits of our income tax returns by Federal, state and local agencies.		The estimate of our tax contingencies reserve contains uncertainty because management		To the extent we prevail in matters for which reserves have been established, or are required to pay

Description of Policy		Judgments and Uncertainties		Effect If Actual Results Differ From Assumptions and Adjustments Recorded
These audits include questions regarding our tax filing positions, including the timing and amount of deductions and the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions. In evaluating the exposures associated with our various tax filing positions, including state and local taxes, we record reserves for what we identify as probable exposures. A number of years may elapse before a particular matter for which we have established a reserve, is audited and fully resolved. We have also established a valuation allowance for capital loss carryforwards and unrealized losses on certain securities, as we believe that it is more likely than not that the tax benefits of the items will not be realized.		must use judgment to estimate the exposures associated with various tax filing positions. To make these judgments, we make determinations about the likelihood that the specific taxing authority may challenge the tax deductions that we have taken on our tax return. Based on information about other tax settlements we estimate amounts that we may settle with taxing authorities in order to conclude audits.		amounts in excess of our reserves, our effective tax rate in a given financial statement period could be materially affected. An unfavorable tax settlement would require use of our cash and result in an increase in our effective rate in the year of resolution. A favorable tax settlement would be recognized as a reduction in our effective tax rate in the year of resolution. When we establish or reduce the valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets, our income tax expense will increase or decrease, respectively; in the period such determination is made. As of June 26, 2005, we had established tax reserves of $15.7 million and a valuation allowance of $11.2 million.
Inventories:
We value our inventory at the lower of cost of the inventory or fair market value by establishing a write-down or an inventory loss reserve. We base our lower of cost or market write-down on the excess carrying value of the inventory, which is typically its cost, over the amount that we expect to realize from the ultimate sale of the inventory based upon our assumptions regarding the average sales price to be received for the product.		Our inventory reserve is based upon our analysis of sales levels by product and projections of future customer demand derived from historical order patterns and input received from our customers and sales team. To mitigate uncertainties, we reserve for all inventory greater than 12 months old, unless there is an identified need for the inventory. In addition, we reserve for items that are considered obsolete based on changes in customer demand, manufacturing process changes or new product introductions that may eliminate demand for a product. We remove inventory and the associated reserve from our financial records when the inventory is physically destroyed.		If our estimates regarding customer demand and physical inventory losses are inaccurate or changes in technology affect demand for certain products in an unforeseen manner, we may be exposed to losses or gains in excess of our established reserves that could be material. A 10% increase or decrease in our actual inventory reserve at June 26, 2005 would have affected net earnings by approximately $91,000 for the fiscal year ended June 26, 2005.
Accruals for Self Insured and Other Liabilities:
We make estimates for the amount of costs that have been incurred but not yet billed for general		Our liabilities contain uncertainties because we must make assumptions and apply		If actual costs billed to us are not consistent with our assumptions and judgments, our expenses could

Description of Policy		Judgments and Uncertainties		Effect If Actual Results Differ From Assumptions and Adjustments Recorded
services, including legal, accounting fees, costs pertaining to our self-funded medical insurance and other expenses.		judgment to estimate the ultimate cost to settle claims and claims incurred but not reported as of the balance sheet date. When estimating our liabilities, we consider a number of factors, including interviewing our service providers for bills that have not yet been received. For self-insured liabilities, we estimate our liabilities based on historical claims experience.		be understated or overstated and these adjustments could materially affect our net income.
Accounting for Non-Marketable and Marketable Equity Securities:
From time to time, we evaluate strategic opportunities and potential investments in complementary businesses, and as a result we may invest in marketable equity or private company securities. We carry marketable equity securities at fair value, based on quoted market prices, and unrealized gains and losses, net of taxes, are included in accumulated other comprehensive income. Realized gains and losses are recognized when realized upon sale or disposition of the security. We carry private company investments at cost. Declines in value that are deemed to be other-than-temporary are recorded as an investment loss. If we believe that an other-than-temporary decline exists in the value of one of our marketable equity or private company securities, it is our policy to write-down these equity investments to the market value.		Management’s assessment of whether a security is impaired is based on a review of each company’s cash position, its earnings and revenue outlook, operational performance, management changes and competition. We also review stock price performance, liquidity and ability to raise capital. If the company is private, we also review the company’s capitalization structure based on recent financing transactions and ownership changes. Based on this information, we make certain judgments about whether an other-than-temporary decline has occurred.		If our estimates regarding the market value of a security are incorrect, we need to record additional impairments on that security. Such impairment would impact our loss on marketable securities or loss on long-term investments account. As of June 26, 2005, we held investments in a public company that had a market value of $20.9 million and a private company investment valued at $37,000. In the second quarter of fiscal 2005, we recorded a $2.0 million loss for an other-than-temporary impairment on our investment in a private company. This write-down was based on our evaluation of the company’s financial results and a third party offer to purchase our investment. This investment was sold in the third quarter of fiscal 2005 at its then carrying value.

Results of Operations

The following table shows our consolidated statements of operations data expressed as a percentage of total revenue for the periods indicated:

Comparison of Fiscal Years Ended June 26, 2005 and June 27, 2004

Revenue.    Revenue increased by $81.7 million or 27% to $389.1 million in fiscal 2005 as compared to fiscal 2004 due to stronger demand from our LED customers for applications that include white lighting for mobile phones for both LCD backlighting and keypads, blue and green LEDs for full color displays, entertainment products (such as pachinko) and general indicator and other illumination applications. LED revenue increased by $80.3 million or 33% to $322.1 million in fiscal 2005 as compared to $241.8 million in fiscal 2004. The most significant increase in revenue in fiscal 2005 came from sales to our Japanese distributor, Sumitomo. Revenue from sales to Sumitomo increased by $59.2 million or 58% to $161.0 million in fiscal 2005 as compared to fiscal 2004 due to strong demand from Japanese packagers using our products. During fiscal 2005, four of our top ten end customers were located in Japan. The sales to these companies were reported in our revenue from Sumitomo. For fiscal 2005, Sumitomo’s advance purchase commitment was approximately $160 million, and revenue recognized from Sumitomo was $161.0 million. For fiscal 2006, Sumitomo’s advance purchase commitment is approximately $200 million; however, Sumitomo’s purchase commitment is subject to end customer demand and other terms and conditions that could affect the revenues actually recognized from Sumitomo.

Revenue from sales to OSRAM increased by 7%, or $3.1 million in fiscal 2005 over the prior fiscal year. In June 2005 we signed a new agreement with OSRAM, which covers the terms of shipments to be

made through June 2008, but does not commit OSRAM to purchase any specific products beyond an initial period. This agreement is in-line with how we have operated with OSRAM during the second half of fiscal 2005 as they fulfilled the previous agreement early.

Revenue from sales to Agilent declined by 40% or $16.1 million in fiscal 2005 over the prior fiscal year due to changes in its business and its procurement strategy. During fiscal 2005, we continued to see an increase in business from a number of Asian LED packagers that serve a variety of mobile phone, gaming and other consumer applications.

Our LED unit shipments increased 53% in fiscal 2005 as compared to fiscal 2004 and our blended average LED sales price declined 13% during the same period. Our average sales price for LEDs was lower due to increasing price competitiveness in the marketplace, which was somewhat offset by a change in the product mix of our sales toward higher brightness products that have a higher average sales price. For fiscal 2005, sales of our high-brightness LED products increased from 49% to 59% of total LED revenue as our customers designed them into more LED packages for white light applications such as keypads, LCD backlights and camera flashes in mobile phones. High-brightness products also are used for automotive, displays and other illumination applications. These products include our X-class, MegaBright and power chip LED products. In fiscal 2005, the majority of the increase in revenue came from our MegaBright and X-class products that were introduced over the last two fiscal years.

Revenue from our mid-brightness products also increased in fiscal 2005 as compared to fiscal 2004 due to new designs for keypads in mobile phones, as well as displays and consumer product applications. In fiscal 2005, we began selling our UT230 chips for mobile phones, which drove the increase in our mid-brightness category in fiscal 2005. Revenue from our standard brightness products declined 16% in fiscal 2005 in comparison to the prior fiscal year due to reduced demand for automotive and indicator light applications that use these products. For fiscal 2006, we target that our sales of high-brightness LEDs will continue to increase primarily for white light mobile phone applications and other consumer products. In addition, we target an increase in demand for our high power packaged LEDs that are used in specialty lighting applications. LED revenue made up 83% of our total revenue in fiscal 2005.

SiC wafer and epitaxy revenue increased 14% to $24.7 million in fiscal 2005 from $21.7 million in fiscal 2004 as more of our wafers were sold with epitaxy, which increased our average selling price per wafer and our product mix changed. As a result, sales of our wafer units declined 13% while the average sales price increased 31% during fiscal 2005. Revenue from SiC crystals used in gemstone applications increased 60% to $8.0 million in fiscal 2005 as compared to $5.0 million in fiscal 2004, due to strong demand from our sole customer, C&C. Materials revenue from wafers and gemstones combined made up 8% of our total revenue in fiscal 2005.

Revenue from our high power devices increased 6% to $12.4 million in fiscal 2005 from $11.7 million in fiscal 2004 due to a 93% increase in sales of Schottky diode products and SiC-based wide bandgap microwave devices. Cree Microwave’s silicon-based product sales declined 40% from $7.7 million to $4.6 million due mostly to reduced sales to Remec as we sold legacy Spectrian devices in fiscal 2004 under “last time buy” arrangements. In June 2005, we announced plans to close our silicon-based microwave business located in Sunnyvale, California after accepting “last time buy” contracts to be fulfilled in the first half of fiscal 2006. At this time we target that revenue from silicon microwave products under “last time buy” arrangements may be approximately $3 million in the first half of fiscal 2006, and we target that such revenue will go to zero thereafter. Revenue from high power devices made up 3% of total revenue in fiscal 2005.

Contract revenue received from U.S. Government agencies declined by 19% to $21.7 million during fiscal 2005 compared to $26.9 million in fiscal 2004, as we continued to perform under multi-year contract awards that we received in prior years for contracts that were winding down. During the fourth quarter of

fiscal 2005, we determined that the direct costs to be incurred by us over the life of two of our government contracts would likely exceed the funding to be received from the U.S. Government. As a result, approximately $1.2 million of contract funding was recorded as an offset to research and development expenses in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 and the first quarter of fiscal 2006, we have received funding under new programs, including a $12.0 million program funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense for electronic devices and power modules that reduce the size of power management equipment aboard U.S. Navy sea vessels and other programs. As a result of this, we target that contract revenue will increase during fiscal 2006. Contract revenue was 6% of total revenue for fiscal 2005.

Gross Profit.    Gross profit increased 40% to $204.2 million, and gross margin increased from 47% to 52% of revenue in fiscal 2005 as compared to fiscal 2004. In fiscal 2005, our blended average LED sales price declined 13% while our blended average LED costs decreased 21% compared to fiscal 2004. Therefore, gross margin improved in fiscal 2005 primarily because of the significantly lower costs for LEDs. LED costs declined faster than blended average prices as we switched the production of some of our LEDs from two-inch to three-inch wafers which allows for more chips per wafer and lowers the overall cost per die. We estimate that during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, approximately 40% of our LED chips were manufactured from three-inch wafers. We expect that the majority of our LED chips will be fabricated from three-inch wafers during fiscal 2006.

In fiscal 2005, we changed our method for estimating sales returns. In connection with the change in our estimate for sales returns, we also recorded an estimate for the value of product returns that we believe will be returned to inventory in the future and resold. This includes an estimate for the value of inventory that may be returned in the future. As of June 26, 2005 and June 27, 2004, the amount of our sales return allowance was $9.6 million and $798,000, respectively. As of June 26, 2005 and June 27, 2004, the amount of our deferred revenue was $67,000 and $8.4 million, respectively. As of June 26, 2005, we estimated the value of future product returns at $1.7 million, which was reflected as a reduction in our cost of product sales in fiscal 2005. We also reduced our warranty reserve by $683,000 in fiscal 2005, since the estimate for sales returns includes the cost of products that may be returned and replaced under warranty provisions. In fiscal 2004, we increased our allowance for sales returns by $154,000 due to business growth, and we increased our reserve for potential future product warranty claims by $507,000, which lowered gross profit by $661,000. The change in our method for estimating sales returns was prompted by us establishing enough sales return history under significant customer contracts that contain right of return provisions.

Our wafer sales also were more profitable in fiscal 2005 than fiscal 2004 due to a change in mix and a higher percentage of wafers sold with epitaxy, which have a higher sales price than wafers sold without epitaxy. Our wafer average sales price increased 31% while our wafer average cost increased 16% due to the change in product mix. Contract margins increased from 17% in fiscal 2004 to 23% in fiscal 2005 due to a change in the mix of programs in each period.

Our Cree Microwave segment reported negative gross profit of $7.2 million and $2.9 million for fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2004, respectively. Lower revenue in fiscal 2005 contributed to an increase in the segment’s negative gross profit. During fiscal 2005, we announced that the silicon-based business located in Sunnyvale would be closing in the first half of fiscal 2006. As a result, we wrote down $652,000 of inventory in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 that would not be used. During fiscal 2004, Cree Microwave’s gross margin benefited from adjustments totaling $398,000 for a revision of standard costs and a prior year reversal of the warranty expense accrual. With the expected closure of the Cree Microwave-Sunnyvale facility in the second quarter of fiscal 2006, we target gross profit to improve by approximately $2.0 million per quarter beginning in the third quarter of fiscal 2006 related to the winding down of this segment.

Research and Development.    Research and development expenses increased 17% in fiscal 2005 to $42.8 million as compared to $36.5 million in fiscal 2004, due to higher spending to support our conversion

to three-inch production, four-inch wafer process development, our new chip products, including UT230, X-class and power chip LEDs, our high power packaged LEDs and other high brightness LED research programs. In addition, we funded ongoing development for higher power diodes and switches, higher power RF and microwave devices and near UV laser devices. We target research and development costs to be higher in fiscal 2006 as we are planning to support more internal programs for brighter LEDs and larger wafers.

Sales, General and Administrative.    Sales, general and administrative expenses increased 18% in fiscal 2005 to $34.3 million as compared to $29.1 million in fiscal 2004, resulting from increasing general expenses associated with the growth of our business and $2.4 million in outside costs relating to compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Fiscal 2005 results included a $1.1 million reduction in sales, general and administrative expenses related to a reimbursement that was received from our insurance carrier for certain legal fees related to securities litigation. During fiscal 2004, we incurred approximately $800,000 of incremental legal and other costs associated with litigation and costs of a special committee investigation conducted by the Board of Directors. We target that sales, general and administrative expenses will be higher in fiscal 2006 to support the growth of our business, which includes increased sales and marketing costs for our high power packaged LED and high power semiconductor business as well as a corporate marketing department.

Impairment or Loss on Disposal of Fixed Assets.    Impairment or loss on the disposal of fixed assets increased 560% to $6.7 million in fiscal 2005 as compared to $1.0 million in fiscal 2004, as we impaired $5.5 million of assets at our Cree Microwave-Sunnyvale location. The Cree Microwave segment is expected to operate at a loss over the next two quarters as it completes “last time buy” arrangements for its customers. As a result, we were required to write down all equipment at Cree Microwave-Sunnyvale to a carrying value of $707,000, which is the estimated salvage value for the equipment that is expected to be sold in the second quarter of fiscal 2006. This write-down resulted in a $5.5 million charge for long-lived asset impairment. The decision to discontinue the Sunnyvale operation was based on management’s review of the strategic alternatives and the financial outlook for the business. Prior to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, we planned to move the manufacturing of our high power devices, including SiC Schottky diodes, to the Sunnyvale facility, and considered selling the silicon-based business. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, we determined instead to close the Sunnyvale, California facility by December 2005. During fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2004, we identified certain other equipment that was obsolete and no longer in service. We wrote-off the value of these assets and disposed of them.

Severance Charges.    In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, we incurred $519,000 in severance charges in our Cree Microwave segment covering employees at our Sunnyvale facility who were laid off and received their severance payments during the same quarter and employees who have been identified to render service until they are terminated at a later date beyond a minimum retention period. For employees serving to a later date, severance costs are accrued ratably over the period between the communication date of the severance in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 and their actual termination date. We currently estimate that we will incur additional severance costs in the first and second quarter of fiscal 2006 of approximately $600,000 to $700,000 associated with the closure of the Sunnyvale facility.

Gain on Investments in Marketable Securities and Long Term Investments.    In fiscal 2005, we sold a portion of our investment in Color Kinetics, Incorporated (Color Kinetics) for a realized gain of $2.8 million. In addition, we also recorded a $2.0 million loss in the second quarter of fiscal 2005 for an other-than-temporary impairment on our investment in a private company. This write-down was based on our evaluation of the company’s financial results and a third party offer to purchase our investment. This investment was sold in the third quarter of fiscal 2005 at its then carrying value. There were no realized gains or losses on investments in marketable securities or long- term investments recorded in fiscal 2004.

Other Non-operating Income.    Other non-operating income decreased 98% to $8,000 in fiscal 2005 from $519,000 in fiscal 2004. During fiscal 2004, we recognized a one-time technology license fee.

Interest Income, Net.    Interest income, net increased 45% to $5.4 million in fiscal 2005 as compared to fiscal 2004, due to a combination of our greater cash balance and higher interest rates on our investments from rate increases during fiscal 2005.

Income Tax Expense.    Income tax expense for fiscal 2005 was $34.9 million compared to $25.6 million in fiscal 2004, an increase of 36%. Our effective income tax rate declined to 28% for fiscal 2005 compared to a 31% rate for fiscal 2004. During fiscal 2005, we recorded tax benefits associated with our investment in Color Kinetics. Because we had prior year like kind capital losses that were carried forward for tax purposes, we were required to reverse a portion of the tax reserve associated with the capital losses that were recorded in a prior year. As a result, we reduced our income tax expense by $814,000 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 and $4.6 million for fiscal 2005 due to the change in market value of our investment in Color Kinetics. In fiscal 2006, we will be required to continue to record the tax effect of any increase or decrease to the value of any continuing investment in Color Kinetics as a reduction or increase to our tax expense. We also recorded $2.1 million of other adjustments in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 that reduced our tax expense. Two offsetting tax adjustments related to the Cree Microwave subsidiary also impacted our tax expense for fiscal 2005. One adjustment was a $6.5 million favorable permanent tax deduction, which was offset by a $6.7 million increase in our tax reserve. For fiscal 2005, the effective rate for our tax provision was approximately 28% of revenue. At this time, we estimate our fiscal 2006 effective rate for our tax provision to be approximately 33% of revenue due to reduced benefits targeted from the extraterritorial taxable income credit that is being phased out as a result of the American JOBS Creation Act of 2004 that went into effect in fiscal 2005.

Comparison of Fiscal Years Ended June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003

Revenue.Revenue.    Revenue increased 34%33% to $306.9$307.3 million in fiscal 2004 from $229.8 million in fiscal 2003. Higher revenue was primarily attributable to greater product revenue, which increased 38% to $279.9 million in fiscal 2004 from $203.0$230.3 million in fiscal 2003. Much of the increase in revenue resulted from significantly higher unit shipments of our LED products due to stronger demand from our customers primarily for mobile appliance, display and automotive applications. LED revenue was $241.3$241.8 million and $172.3$172.8 million for fiscal 2004 and 2003, respectively. The most significant increase in revenue in fiscal 2004 came from sales to our Japanese distributor, Sumitomo. Revenue from sales to Sumitomo increased by 86% or $47.6 million in fiscal 2004 as compared to fiscal 2003 due to strong demand among Japanese manufacturers for our products for mobile appliance, displays, automotive, consumer products and indicator light applications. During fiscal 2004, four of our top ten end customers were located in Japan. The sales to these companies were reported in our revenue from Sumitomo. For fiscal year 2004, Sumitomo’s advance purchase commitment was approximately $100 million, and revenue recognized from Sumitomo was $101.8 million. For fiscal year 2005, Sumitomo’s advance purchase commitment is approximately $160 million; however, Sumitomo’s purchase commitment is subject to end customer demand and other terms and conditions.

Revenue from sales to Agilent increased by 71% or $16.5 million, in fiscal 2004 over the prior fiscal year. Much of this increased business resulted from demand for our products to be used in mobile appliance keypads, displays and other consumer product applications. Revenue from sales to OSRAM declined by 14%, or $6.5 million in fiscal 2004 due to changes in their customer’s demand and other factors.2004. During fiscal 2004, we continued to see an increase in business from a number of Asian LED packagers who serve a variety of mobile appliance and other consumer applications. With respect to our Cree Microwave segment, sales to Remec increased $2.7 million, or 460%, for fiscal 2004 as compared to fiscal 2003. A portion of our sales to Remec in fiscal 2004 was for legacy Spectrian designs under “last time buy” arrangements that may not continue after the first quarter of fiscal 2005.

Two of our customer arrangements provide for product exchanges and reimbursement of certain sales costs. For these customers, we defer revenue equal to the level specified in these contractual arrangements and recognize the related revenue less any claims made against the reserves when the customers’ exchange rights expire and the deferred revenue reserves are released. The reserve expires no later than two quarters from the date of the original sale. In connection with our distributorship agreement with Sumitomo, such deferred revenue amounted to $7.9 million and $5.3 million as of June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003, respectively. In connection with our purchase agreement with OSRAM, such deferred revenue amounted to $471,000 and zero as of June 27, 2004 and June 29, 2003, respectively.arrangements.

Our LED revenue increased 40% in fiscal 2004 as compared to fiscal 2003 and made up 78% of our total revenue in fiscal 2004. Our blended average LED sales price declined 16% for the twelve months ended June 2004 compared to the prior fiscal year. Our average sales price for LEDs was lower due to increasing price competitiveness in the marketplace, which was somewhat offset by a change in the product mix of our sales toward higher brightness products that have a higher average sales price. For fiscal 2004, our LED chip volume increased 65% over prior year shipments. Sales of our high-brightness LED products more than doubled in fiscal 2004 over fiscal 2003 as our customers designed them into more LED packages for white light applications such as for keypads in mobile appliances, LCD backlights and camera flashes. High-brightness products also are used for automotive, displays and other illumination applications. These

products include our XThin, XBright, MegaBright and power chip LED products. The majority of these products were introduced in the last two fiscal years.2004 and 2003.

Revenue from our mid-brightness products including our UltraBright and SuperBright chips, also increased in fiscal 2004 as compared to fiscal 2003 due to new designs for keypads in mobile appliances, as well as automotive applications, displays and consumer product applications. In fiscal 2004, we introduced the RazerThin^® and UT230 chips for mobile appliances that offer a smaller and thinner design and a lower

forward voltage than our standard chips. The thin design offers more flexibility for smaller phones, while the lower forward voltage extends the battery lifetime for mobile appliances. Shipments of our standard brightness products were slightly higher in fiscal 2004 in comparison to the prior fiscal year due to stable demand for automotive and indicator light applications.

SiC wafer and epitaxy revenue was $21.7 million and $19.5 million for fiscal 2004 and 2003, respectively. Wafer revenue increased 11% over the prior year due to increased sales to corporate and university research customers for wafers with epitaxy layers. Wafer units declined 5% while the average sales price increased 17% during fiscal 2004. Additionally, fiscal 2004 revenues included $398,000 of fourth quarter GaN product sales from the unit we acquired from ATMI in April 2004. Wafer revenue made up 7% of our total revenue in fiscal 2004.

SiC materials revenue for gemstone use was $5.0 million and $7.4 million for fiscal 2004 and 2003, respectively. Revenue from sales of our SiC materials for use in gemstones decreased 32% during fiscal 2004 as compared to fiscal 2003 due to a combination of lower demand and lower overall product yields. We achieved improvements in our product yield in the second half of fiscal 2004. Revenue from gemstone materials was 2% of our total sales for fiscal 2004.

Revenue from Cree Microwave products was $7.7 million and $2.8 million for fiscal 2004 and 2003, respectively. Cree Microwave revenue made up 3% of our total revenue for fiscal 2004. Revenue from these products increased 176% during fiscal 2004 over fiscal 2003 due to incremental orders from new customers for our newer LDMOS devices designed for wireless infrastructure and mil-aero markets. In addition, Cree Microwave’s sales to Remec were $2.7 million in fiscal 2004 compared to $587,000 in fiscal 2003. Some of these sales to Remec were for legacy Spectrian applications under “last time buy” arrangements that may not continue after the first quarter of fiscal 2005. During fiscal 2004, we had better success in gaining new customers for our Cree Microwave products as the economic environment for wireless infrastructure spending improved.arrangements.

Product sales mix for our LDMOS devices made up 55% of microwave revenue for each of fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2003, respectively.2003. Revenue attributable to bipolar devices was 41% and 23% for fiscal 2004 and 2003, respectively. Engineering service revenue decreased to 4% in fiscal 2004 from 22% in fiscal 2003 due to the prior year’s work achieving design wins and generating product sale growth in fiscal 2004. Overall, our average sales price for Cree Microwave products decreased 14% compared to the prior fiscal year while our unit shipments increased 222%.

Contract revenue was 9% of total revenue for fiscal 2004. Contract revenue received from U.S. Government agencies increased by less than 1% during fiscal 2004 compared to fiscal 2003, as we continued to perform under multi-year contract awards that we received at the end of fiscal 2002 and the beginning of fiscal 2003. In May 2004, we were awarded two contracts through the Robert Morris Acquisition Center, providing for up to $25.8 million over five years. These contracts focus on the development of manufacturing technology for high-temperature high-power SiC semiconductor material and power devices for use in electric traction drive power components and associated power conditioning and control electronics for the next-generation of combat vehicles. In fiscal 2004, we recorded $512,000 of revenue associated with these two new contracts. Additionally, fiscal 2004 revenues included $782,000 of fourth quarter contract sales from the business unit we acquired from ATMI in April 2004.

We target contract revenue to increase slightly during fiscal 2005 as a result of the award of additional funding under existing contracts and the award of the new contracts in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004.

Gross Profit.Profit.    Gross profit increased 50%48% to $148.4$145.9 million in fiscal 2004 from $99.2 million in fiscal 2003. Compared to the prior fiscal year,and gross margins increased from 43% to 48%47% of revenue. In fiscal 2004, our blended average sales prices declined 16% while our blended average LED costs decreased 22%

compared to fiscal 2003. Therefore, gross margins improved in

fiscal 2004 primarily because of these significantly lower costs for LEDs. LED costs declined faster than blended average prices due to improved yields, greater scale and throughput and other process improvements.

Our wafer sales also were more profitable in fiscal 2004 than fiscal 2003 due to a higher percentage of wafers sold with epitaxy. Wafer costs for our SiC materials sales were 9% lower in fiscal 2004 than fiscal 2003 due to the shift in product mix and a $169,000 reduction in wafer inventory reserves. Contract margins declined from 22% in fiscal 2003 to 17% in fiscal 2004 due to a higher percentage of cost-share work performed during the year.

Our Cree Microwave segment reported negative gross profit of $2.9 million and $9.3 million for fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2003, respectively. Higher revenue in fiscal 2004 contributed to reduce the segment’s negative gross profit. Factory throughput due to increased sales volume also has improved our cost per unit. During fiscal 2004, Cree Microwave’s gross margin also benefited from adjustments totaling $398,000 for a revision of standard costs and a prior year reversal of the warranty expense accrual.

In fiscal 2004, we increased our allowance for sales returns by $154,000 due to business growth, and the Cree segment establishedincreased a $507,000 reserve for potential future product warranty claims by $507,000, which lowered gross profit by $661,000. In fiscal 2003, gross profit included a $1.8 million write-down of inventory at Cree Microwave due to the termination of the supply agreement with Spectrian and other slow moving products. We also recorded a $1.0 million increase to inventory reserves for LED and wafer products in fiscal 2003. In addition, reserves for allowance for sales returns were increased by $189,000 in fiscal 2003.

Research and Development.Development.    Research and development expenses increased 18% in fiscal 2004 to $36.9$36.5 million from $31.2$31.0 million in fiscal 2003. The increase in research and development spending supported our three-inch process development, our thin chip products (XThin, RazerThin and UT230), X-class and power chip LEDs (XB900 and XB500), our XLamp^™ high power packaged LEDs and other high brightness LED research programs. In addition, we funded ongoing development for higher power/higher linearity RF and microwave devices, near UV laser devices and higher power diodes/switches. During fiscal 2003, we included a $1.0 million charge for costs associated with initial XBright chips that were made in previous quarters and were never fully qualified by customers. From time to time, our customers and companies thatin which we invest in participate in research and development funding for specific programs. We record this customer and third party funding as an offset against research and development expenses. Customers and third parties in whom we invested funded zero and $500,000 in fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2003, respectively. The funding we received in fiscal 2003 came from an affiliate of Lighthouse, in which we holdheld a private company equity investment. At this time, we do not expect funding for research and development during fiscal 2005 from this or any other customer or third party in which we invested.

Sales, General and Administrative.Administrative.    Sales, general and administrative expenses increased 20%15% in fiscal 2004 to $31.7$29.1 million from $26.3$25.3 million in fiscal 2003. The increase in expenses primarily resulted from the increasing general expense associated with the growth of our business and a higher level of funding for our employee profit sharing program.business. During fiscal 2004, we incurred approximately $800,000 of incremental legal and other costs associated with litigation and costs of a special committee investigation conducted by the Board of Directors. Fiscal 2003 includesincluded legal costs associated with the patent infringement case with Nichia, which was settled in November 2002.

Impairment or Loss on Disposal of Fixed Assets.    LossImpairment or loss on the disposal of fixed assets decreased 35% to $1.0 million in fiscal 2004 from $1.6 million recorded in fiscal 2003. During fiscal 2004, we identified certain equipment that was obsolete and no longer in service. We wrote-off the value of these assets and disposed of them. During fiscal 2003, we recorded a $1.4 million write-down for fixed assets associated with a novel epitaxy equipment project that we discontinued before the vendor delivered the equipment to us. The amount represented a deposit that we paid for the equipment. We also disposed of $200,000 of other assets during fiscal 2003.

Severance Charges.    In the first quarter of fiscal 2003, we incurred $400,000 of severance charges at our Cree Microwave segment for employees who were laid off and received their severance payments during the same period. We paid no severance in fiscal 2004.

Gain on Termination of Supply Agreement.    In the second quarter of fiscal 2003, we received a $5.0 million one-time payment from Spectrian associated with the termination of the supply agreement between Cree Microwave and Spectrian. We did not receive any similar payments in fiscal 2004.

Loss on Investments in Marketable Securities.Securities.    We recorded a $2.1 million loss in fiscal 2003 related to marketable securities that we sold during the second quarter of fiscal 2003. There were no realized gains or losses on investments in marketable securities recorded in fiscal 2004.

Other Non-operating Income.Income (Expense).    Other non-operating income (expense) increased 128% to $1.0 million$519,000 of income in fiscal 2004 from $442,000an expense of $44,000 in fiscal 2003. During fiscal 2004, we recorded non-operating income for a contractually agreed upon payment from one of our customers for a foreign currency translation adjustment included in the applicable sales contract. During the third quarter of fiscal 2004, we recognized a one-time technology license fee. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003, we recorded and received a contractually agreed upon payment from one of our customers for a foreign currency translation adjustment included in the applicable sales contract.

Interest Income, Net.    Interest income, net decreased 10% to $3.7 million in fiscal 2004 from $4.1 million in fiscal 2003. The reduction resulted primarily from lower interest rates available for our liquid cash and securities-held-to-maturity over the applicable period.

Income Tax Expense.Expense.    Income tax expense for fiscal 2004 was $25.6 million compared to $12.3 million in fiscal 2003, an increase of 109%. The increase resulted mainly from our greater pre-tax profitability in fiscal 2004, which increased 77% over fiscal 2003. In addition, our effective income tax rate increased to 30.7% for fiscal 2004 compared to a 26% rate for fiscal 2003. The fiscal 2004 effective rate was higher than the fiscal 2003 effective tax rate as we benefited from tax credits and other permanent tax differences in fiscal 2003. Historically, our reported taxable income has been significantly lower than income reported for financial reporting purposes. The primary reasons for this difference are the timing differences for depreciation, stock option deductions for tax purposes and other tax planning strategies which are net of impairment charges expensed for financial accounting purposes that are not tax deductible.

Comparison of Fiscal Years Ended June 29, 2003 and June 30, 2002

Revenue.    Revenue increased 48% to $229.8 million in fiscal 2003 from $155.4 million in fiscal 2002. Higher revenue was primarily attributable to greater product revenue, which increased 49% to $203.0 million in fiscal 2003 from $136.2 million in fiscal 2002. Much of the increase in revenue resulted from significantly higher unit shipments of our LED products due to stronger demand from our customers primarily for mobile appliance and automotive applications. LED revenue was $172.3 million and $90.5 million, for fiscal 2003 and 2002, respectively. The most significant increase in revenue in fiscal 2003 came from sales to our Japanese distributor, Sumitomo. Revenue from sales to Sumitomo increased by 153% or $33.3 million in fiscal 2003 as compared to fiscal 2002 due to strong demand among Japanese manufacturers for our products for mobile appliance, automotive, consumer products and indicator light applications. Revenue from sales to OSRAM and Agilent also increased by 63% or $19.4 million and 64% or $8.9 million, respectively, in fiscal 2003 over the prior year comparative period. Much of this increased business was caused by demand for our products used in mobile appliances as well as automotive and other applications. During fiscal 2003, we also noted an increase in business from several Asian LED packagers as our customer base became more diversified. The only significant decline in revenue came from Spectrian, which was acquired by Remec in December 2002, where revenue from sales declined 96% or $23.5 million in fiscal 2003 as compared to fiscal 2002. Spectrian or Remec purchases silicon RF transistors from our Cree Microwave segment.

Certain of our customer arrangements provide for product exchanges and reimbursement of certain sales costs. For Sumitomo, we defer revenue equal to the level specified in these contractual arrangements and recognize the related revenue less any claims made against the reserves when the customers’ exchange rights expire and the deferred revenue reserves are released. The reserve expires no later than two quarters from the date of the original sale. Deferred revenue amounted to $5.3 million and $741,000 as of June 29, 2003 and June 30, 2002, respectively.

Our LED revenue increased 90% in fiscal 2003 as compared to fiscal 2002 and made up 75% of our total revenue in fiscal 2003. Our average LED sales price declined 9% for the twelve months ended June 2003 compared to the prior year. Our average sales price for LEDs also was lower due to increasing price competitiveness in the marketplace and a change in the product mix of our sales to customers. For fiscal 2003, our LED chip volume increased 111% over prior year shipments. The most significant increase to revenue occurred in our mid-brightness range of LED products. Our lower range mid-brightness LED products have been incorporated into new designs in the keypads of several mobile phone models that feature a blue color as well as blue LEDs that are used as the backlight for blue displays. In addition, these LED chips are now used in other products targeting gaming equipment, consumer products and office automation applications. The introduction of the MegaBright blue, green and UV products in fiscal 2002 also generated new design wins for our customers. MegaBright’s product performance in fiscal 2003 generated new opportunities in other markets, particularly mobile appliance applications for blue and white LED backlight designs. Blue and white LEDs replaced a portion of the yellow-green LEDs that have traditionally backlit mobile handsets as more handsets began offering blue backlit keypads and full color displays backlit by white LEDs. The MegaBright product line also was used in new automotive designs from both European and Asian manufacturers for the 2003 model year.

During fiscal 2002, we introduced our XBright family of LEDs, including blue, green and near UV devices. These products offer a higher brightness than our MegaBright products. We completed the introduction of these devices in the second half of fiscal 2002; however, we continued to work with customers to optimize our chip design for use in their packages. Shipments of our standard brightness products were flat in fiscal 2003 in comparison to the prior year due to stable demand for automotive and indicator light applications.

SiC wafer revenue was $19.5 million and $17.5 million, for fiscal 2003 and 2002, respectively. Wafer revenue increased 11% over the prior year due to greater sales to corporate and university research customers. Wafer units declined 6% while the average sales price increased 19% during fiscal 2003, due to a lower mix of shipments to OSRAM, which uses wafers in commercial production. Since OSRAM uses the wafers in commercial high volume production, it receives volume discounts on its purchases; therefore, these sales have a lower average sales price. We also sold more wafers with epitaxial layers during fiscal 2003 to customers such as Infineon Technologies (Infineon), which contributed to a higher average sales price. Wafer revenue made up 9% of our total revenue in fiscal 2003.

Revenue from sales of our SiC materials for use in gemstones increased 190% during fiscal 2003 as compared to fiscal 2002 as C&C increased its orders to us. SiC materials revenue from materials sold for gemstone use was $7.4 million and $2.6 million for fiscal 2003 and 2002, respectively. Revenue from gemstone materials was 3% of our total sales for fiscal 2003.

Revenue from silicon-based microwave products was $3.0 million and $25.1 million, for fiscal 2003 and 2002, respectively. Microwave revenue made up 1% of our total revenue for fiscal 2003. Revenue from these products decreased 88% to $3.0 million in fiscal 2003 from $24.8 million in fiscal 2002. The decrease in revenue resulted from the termination of the supply agreement with Spectrian in November 2002. Approximately 99% of Cree Microwave revenues were derived from shipments to Spectrian in fiscal 2002. Prior to the termination of the supply agreement, Spectrian had reduced its purchase obligations beginning in March 2002 because our LDMOS8 products had not been qualified. We amended our agreement with Spectrian in March 2002, which resulted in Spectrian ordering fewer products each quarter until the

agreement was terminated in November 2002. We also had little success in gaining new customers in fiscal 2003 due to the poor economic environment for wireless infrastructure spending. Our LDMOS8 products were released to production in November 2002, but these products did not contribute significantly to revenue since design cycles can be 12 to 18 months for wireless infrastructure applications.

Product sales mix for our Cree Microwave products remained constant as LDMOS made up 55% and 54% of microwave revenue for fiscal 2003 and fiscal 2002, respectively. Revenue attributable to bipolar devices was 23% and 45% for fiscal 2003 and 2002, respectively. Approximately 22% of Cree Microwave’s revenue was from engineering services for fiscal 2003 as we continued to work with new customers toward design wins. Overall, our average sales price for Cree Microwave products was fairly stable compared to the prior fiscal year. The most significant factor impacting revenue for our Cree Microwave segment was the 89% decline in units sold as a result of the termination of the Spectrian supply agreement and the overall slowdown in Spectrian’s business prior to the termination of the supply agreement.

Contract revenue was 12% of total revenue for fiscal 2003. Contract revenue received from U.S. Government agencies increased 40% during fiscal 2003 compared to fiscal 2002, due to additional contract awards that we received in fiscal 2002. In June 2002, we were awarded two contracts by ONR, with a total value of approximately $14.4 million as part of the Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Technology Initiative of DARPA. In July 2002, we were awarded government contracts totaling $26.5 million, if fully funded, over a three-year period from ONR and the AFRL. In fiscal 2003, we recognized approximately $16.1 million in revenue from these contracts. Additionally, we were awarded with another contract in June 2002 funded by DARPA, through the United States Army Robert Morris Acquisition Center, to pursue the development of UV LEDs and lasers for a variety of military communications and bio-threat detection applications under DARPA’s SUVOS program. In fiscal 2003, this DARPA SUVOS contract from ARL accounted for approximately $5.7 million in total revenue.

Gross Profit.    Gross profit increased 57% to $99.2 million in fiscal 2003 from $63.4 million in fiscal 2002. Compared to the prior year, gross margins increased from 41% to 43% of revenue. In fiscal 2003, gross profit included a $1.3 million write-down of inventory at Cree Microwave due to the termination of the supply agreement with Spectrian. In fiscal 2002, gross profit included a $5.1 million charge relating to an inventory write-off and other related costs that were recorded as a part of the downsizing of Cree Microwave’s operations. In fiscal 2003, gross margins were impacted by higher LED margins being offset by negative margins from the Cree Microwave segment. LED margins improved as our average sales price decreased by 9% while the average cost of our LEDs decreased by 17% due to higher throughput in the factory and improved yields. Because a significant portion of our factory cost is fixed, higher throughput typically results in lower costs per unit produced. In addition, during fiscal 2002, our LED costs per unit were higher than during fiscal 2003 due to inefficiencies typically associated with new product introductions as we released both the MegaBright and XBright family of products during the year.

Negative gross profits were $9.3 million for our Cree Microwave business during fiscal 2003 as compared to gross profits of $10.1 million recorded during fiscal 2002, despite the $5.1 million write-off of inventory discussed above. Low factory throughput due to significantly reduced sales volume dramatically impacted our cost per unit.

Wafer costs for our SiC materials sales were 19% higher in fiscal 2003 than 2002, due to the shift in product mix of wafers sold with epitaxy as compared to production volume wafers sold to OSRAM. Contract margins declined from 28% in fiscal 2002 to 22% in fiscal 2003 due to a higher percentage of cost-share contracts being worked on during the year.

Research and Development.    Research and development expenses increased 11% in fiscal 2003 to $31.2 million from $28.0 million in fiscal 2002. The increase in research and development spending supported our XBright, MegaBright Plus, XBright Plus, and RazerThin product lines; and our power chip

LEDs as well as higher brightness LED research programs. In addition, we funded development of our LDMOS, SiC and Group III nitride microwave devices, our Schottky diode power program and our near UV lasers. While research and development spending increased, customer support of certain research and development programs decreased by $8.5 million, thereby further increasing costs. From time to time, our customers and companies that we invest in participate in research and development funding for specific programs. We record this third party funding as an offset against research and development expenses. Customers and third parties in whom we invested funded $500,000 and $9.0 million in fiscal 2003 and fiscal 2002, respectively. The majority of this funding was received from companies in which we have made investments. In fiscal 2003, the entire customer funding we received came from an affiliate of Lighthouse, in which we hold a private company equity investment. In fiscal 2002, Microvision, the Lighthouse affiliate, and Xemod funded $4.4 million, $3.0 million and $492,000, respectively, of our research and development. We held an investment in each of these companies at the time that they provided research and development funding to us. In addition, Spectrian, our largest customer for our Cree Microwave segment, also participated in funding our research and development programs for $1.1 million. When customers participate in funding our research and development programs, we record the amount funded as a reduction of research and development expenses.

Sales, General and Administrative.    Sales, general and administrative expenses increased 3% in fiscal 2003 to $26.3 million from $25.6 million in fiscal 2002. The increase in expenses was due mostly to higher premiums for insurance and greater spending to support the growth of the business, including increased performance based compensation plans for all employees.

Intangible Asset Amortization.    Intangible asset amortization decreased 100% to zero during fiscal 2003 from $6.8 million during fiscal 2002. Nine months of intangible asset amortization was included in fiscal 2002 resulting from the acquisition of Cree Microwave in December 2000. In March 2002 an analysis of goodwill and other intangible assets indicated that the carrying values of such assets had been fully impaired under SFAS 121, “Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and for Long-Lived Assets to be Disposed Of” (see “Impairment of Goodwill and Loss on Disposal of Fixed Assets” below). Therefore, we wrote off the entire amount of goodwill and other intangible assets in March 2002. Prior to the write-off of goodwill and intangible assets, we were amortizing these assets over periods ranging from five to ten years.

Impairment of Goodwill and Loss on Disposal of Fixed Assets.    Impairment of goodwill decreased 100% to zero during fiscal 2003 from $76.5 million during fiscal 2002. In March 2002, we determined that impairment existed and wrote off the entire balance of goodwill and other intangible assets. An analysis was performed at that date and indicated that the carrying values of such assets had been fully impaired under SFAS 121. The analysis was performed as several impairment indicators had occurred during the March 2002 quarter as discussed below. One of the significant impairment indicators related to a change in outlook for business at Cree Microwave related to the supply agreement between Cree Microwave and Spectrian. Under the original terms of the agreement, if Cree Microwave were unable to supply components deemed competitive with components available from third party suppliers within a certain period, Spectrian’s quarterly minimum purchase commitment would be reduced each quarter by the dollar volume of the component that Spectrian purchased from other vendors. Cree Microwave and Spectrian agreed to enter into the first amendment to the supply agreement in October 2001 because Cree Microwave was delayed in fully qualifying and completing development of its new LDMOS8 technology. Technology similar to LDMOS8 was made available to Spectrian from a competitor in early 2001. As a result, Cree Microwave agreed to reduce Spectrian’s commitments for the December 2001 quarter. In addition, we amended the supply agreement to provide that if competitive components meeting the applicable requirements were not available from Cree Microwave on or after April 1, 2002, Spectrian’s quarterly minimum purchase commitment thereafter would be reduced by any purchases of such products from other vendors.

By March 2002, Cree Microwave had not yet completed development and qualification testing of any of the components using its LDMOS8-based transistors and thus had not released the components to

production. Cree Microwave then executed a second amendment to the supply agreement with Spectrian in March 2002 and agreed to reduce minimum quarterly purchase commitments from Spectrian in return for additional time in which to complete development and qualification testing of the LDMOS8 components. In addition, many of the products that Spectrian indicated that it would purchase in the future had not yet been released to production. Under the amended supply agreement with Spectrian if Cree Microwave was not able to produce LDMOS8 devices in a timely manner, revenue from Spectrian would be significantly reduced after the June 2002 quarter. In addition, the outlook for acquiring additional customers decreased due to the overall weakened economy and the length of qualification cycles. Due to the change in outlook for business at Cree Microwave and the reduction in expected revenue per quarter, we performed an asset impairment analysis under SFAS 121. As a result of this analysis, the full amount of goodwill and intangible assets of $76.5 million was written off and recorded as “impairment of goodwill” under operating expenses on our consolidated statements of operations. Please refer to theBusiness Combinationssection underGoodwill and Intangible AssetsNote 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Other Matters,” in the consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report for further information about the valuation of Cree Microwave.

Loss on the disposal of fixed assets decreased 92% to $1.6 million in fiscal 2003 from $19.0 million recorded in fiscal 2002. During fiscal 2003, we recorded a $1.4 million write-down for fixed assets associated with a novel epitaxy equipment project that we discontinued before the equipment was delivered to us. The amount represented a deposit that we paid for the equipment. We also disposed of $200,000 of other assets during the year. During fiscal 2002, we took a $19.0 million charge to write down fixed assets due to decisions made based on changes in technology. This impairment reflected management’s decision to focus our technology in certain directions based on feedback from our research and development teams. After extensively testing certain reactor technology equipment, we narrowed a preference for certain processes, and as a result, we wrote-off non-producing reactor equipment that did not use the preferred processes. Also, in December 2001, management prepared for a three-inch wafer transition and as a result, wrote-off non-convertible two-inch crystal growth equipment that was not being used. Finally, yield improvements in our existing facility also resulted in the obsolescence of certain other equipment. All equipment written off in the second quarter of fiscal 2002 was dismantled and destroyed, if proprietary in nature, or sold by June 2002.

Severance Charges and Other Operating Expense.    Severance charges declined from $875,000 in fiscal 2002 to $400,000 in fiscal 2003. In the first quarter of fiscal 2003, we incurred $400,000 of severance charges at our Cree Microwave segment. In the third quarter of fiscal 2002, we recorded an $875,000 severance charge also associated with Cree Microwave. In both periods we recorded the severance charge in the same period that the employees were laid off and received their severance payments.

Other operating expense decreased to zero in fiscal 2003 from $840,000 in fiscal 2002. This reduction was primarily caused by a $700,000 one-time retention bonus paid to Cree Microwave employees pursuant to a contractual commitment made as a part of the acquisition of Cree Microwave from Spectrian in the second quarter of fiscal 2002.

Other Operating Income-Gain on Termination of Supply Agreement.    Gain on termination of supply agreement increased to $5.0 million in fiscal 2003 from zero in fiscal 2002. In the second quarter of fiscal 2003, we received a $5.0 million one-time payment from Spectrian associated with the termination of the supply agreement between Cree Microwave and Spectrian.

Loss on Investments in Marketable Securities and Loss on Long-term Investments.    Loss on investments in marketable securities declined 90% to $2.1 million in fiscal 2003 from $21.5 million recorded in fiscal 2002. The $2.1 million recorded in fiscal 2003 related to marketable securities that we sold during the second quarter of fiscal 2003. The $21.5 million loss recorded in fiscal 2002 related to an entry to reclassify other comprehensive losses from equity to “loss on investments in marketable securities” in our

consolidated statements of operations. In addition, we also recorded additional write-downs for “other-than-temporary” declines in the market value of these investments in these companies as well as the overall stock market decline. This charge was partially offset by a gain on the sale of marketable trading securities of $558,000.

Loss on long-term investments declined to zero in fiscal 2003 from $20.4 million recorded in fiscal 2002. In fiscal 2002, we recorded write-downs for some investments we had made in privately held companies as many of the companies were experiencing deteriorating financial conditions and/or an inability to raise additional capital, which represented significant indicators of value impairment. In the second quarter of fiscal 2002, we recorded a write-down of $12.4 million in privately held investments. The majority of the write-down was taken on our investment in Xemod based on data regarding the company’s valuation. We recorded an $8.4 million write-down on the investment to bring the market capitalization estimate for the entire company to $3.8 million. In 2002, a third party purchased Xemod for approximately $4.5 million. We also took an additional $1.8 million write down on our investment in Lighthouse based on data regarding the company’s valuation. A $2.1 million write-down was also taken on our investment in World Theatre, Inc. (World Theatre) based on data regarding the company’s valuation. World Theatre also attempted to raise capital during the December 2001 quarter and only raised one half of the amount expected in a convertible debt round.

In the fourth quarter of 2002, we wrote down an additional $8.0 million related to our privately held investments. Our investment in EMF Ireland Limited (EMF) was fully written down by $1.1 million based on data regarding the company’s valuation. We further wrote down our Lighthouse investment by $3.4 million, based on data regarding the company’s valuation. During the fourth quarter of 2002, we also fully wrote down our investment in World Theatre based on data regarding the company’s valuation. The amount of the additional write-down was $2.1 million. World Theatre filed for bankruptcy protection in 2003. A $1.4 million charge was also taken to fully write down our investment in Kyma Technologies Inc. (Kyma) based on data regarding the company’s valuation.

Other Non-operating Income.    Other non-operating income increased to $442,000 in fiscal 2003 from zero in fiscal 2002. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003, we received a contractually agreed upon payment from one of our customers, representing a settlement for a foreign currency translation adjustment included in our sales contract.

Interest Income, Net.    Interest income, net decreased 28% to $4.1 million in fiscal 2003 from $5.7 million in fiscal 2002. The reduction resulted primarily from lower interest rates available for our liquid cash over the applicable period.

Income Tax Expense (Benefit).    Income tax expense for fiscal 2003 was $12.3 million compared to a $28.7 million tax benefit recorded in fiscal 2002. The income tax benefit resulted from the $130.4 million net pre-tax loss resulting mainly from the charges taken during the period. These charges included write-downs for the impairment of fixed assets of $19.0 million, a $20.4 million charge to reserve for the decline in value of investments in privately held companies, a $21.4 million write down for “other than temporary” declines in the fair market value of our marketable securities, a $76.5 million write down of goodwill and other intangibles and a $5.1 million reserve taken for inventory and other items. Our effective income tax rate was 26% for fiscal 2003 compared to a 22% rate during fiscal 2002 due to greater tax benefits in fiscal 2002 associated with the losses reported in that year. At June 29, 2003, we recorded $22.8 million in net deferred tax assets.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We have fundedOur strong cash generating capability and financial condition give us ready access to grow our business. Our principal source of liquidity is operating cash flows, which is derived from net income. This cash generating capability is one of our fundamental strengths and provides us with substantial financial flexibility in meeting operating, financing and investing needs.

Operating Activities:

In fiscal 2005, our operations provided $175.6 million of cash reflecting our solid business results. In fiscal 2004, our operations provided $152.4 million of cash. The year-over-year increase in cash flows is mainly due to date, through salesour higher overall profitability. Our net income grew 57% from $58.0 million to $91.1 million in fiscal 2005 compared to fiscal 2004. Depreciation and amortization increased by $14.2 million in fiscal 2005 due to purchases of equity, bank borrowingsnew equipment to support our business growth. In fiscal 2005 we also recorded a number of non-cash charges including $6.7 million for the impairment or loss on the disposal of long-lived assets, $2.0 million for the write-down of long-term investments and $652,000 associated with the impairment of inventory related to the closure of the Cree Microwave-Sunnyvale facility. For fiscal 2004, cash from productoperations included a benefit of $20.4 million for deferred income taxes. In fiscal 2005, we also have a benefit of $23.0 million related to tax benefits associated with stock option exercises. In fiscal 2006, we will be required to reflect tax benefits associated with stock option exercises as a financing activity rather than an operating activity under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123(R), “Share-Based Payment”.

During fiscal 2005, we used $28.3 million for servicing our working capital mostly due to higher inventory levels and contract gross profits.prepaid expenses and lower accrued expenses and other liabilities. Our inventory remained below our industry average at 59 days on hand; however, the balance grew by $12.5 million during fiscal 2005. As of June 27, 2004 we had working capitalour inventory days on hand was 41 days. The majority of $189.9the increase related to work in process items, which grew by $8.1 million including $158.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments held to maturity. As of June 27, 2004, we held

investments of $72.7 million in long-term securities held to maturity in order to receive a higher interest rate onsupport the production of both three-inch and two-inch wafer platforms during fiscal 2005 and to support the expansion of inventory in our cashnewer product lines, including high power packaged LEDs and investments. Operating activities generated $152.4high power products. Finished goods increased by $3.0 million in fiscal 2004 compared with $89.6 million generated during fiscal 2003. This increase was primarily attributableorder to support higher LED sales and we maintain more of our inventory at locations in Asia as a convenience to our increased profitability in fiscal 2004 as net income grew 66% to $58.0 million. Included in the increase in cash from operations is a non-cash charge of $20.4 million related to deferred income taxes. During fiscal 2004, we generated $10.6 million from managing our working capital.customers. We normally target our accounts receivable balance to average between 45 and 60 days outstanding; however, through focused collection efforts we decreased our days sales outstanding to 3432 days at June 27, 200426, 2005 versus 5734 days outstanding at June 29, 2003,27, 2004, based on our monthly revenue profile calculation. Therefore, while our overall revenues increased 34%27% for fiscal 2004,2005, our accounts receivable balance only grew 9%decreased 26% or $3.9$12.6 million. Our inventory remained low at 41 days on hand versus 46 days at June 29, 2003, and thereforeaccounts receivable balance also decreased due to a change in our inventoryestimated sales return allowance that was recorded in fiscal 2005. As a result of this change, our net accounts receivable balance only grew $1.1 million or 10% during fiscal 2004. Depreciation and amortization increasedwas reduced by $12.9$8.8 million in fiscal 2004 due to new equipment purchased to support our business growth.2005.

CashInvesting Activities:

In fiscal 2005, we used in$200.1 million for investing, activities in fiscal 2004 was $112.4 million. Netprimarily reflecting net investments of $18.6$59.2 million were made in securities held to maturity and $77.3$141.8 million was invested in property and equipment, and inincluding additional deposits for property and equipment. The majority of the increase in our spending related to the addition of new equipment additions to increase manufacturing capacity in our crystal growth, epitaxy, clean room and die test areas. In addition, we expanded our main facility in Durham, North Carolina and XLamp manufacturing areas.purchased an existing facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina to provide additional plant capacity for our planned future growth. We spent $10.7target capital spending in fiscal 2006 to be in a range of $90.0 million on the ATMI GaN business acquisition in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004. Finally, $5.9 million was invested in patents and the purchase of patent rights resulting mostly from the purchase of patents from Asea Brown Boveri, Ltd. and other patent investments.to $110.0 million.

Cash usedFinancing Activities:

In fiscal 2005, we generated $19.1 million from financing activities. We received $54.4 million in financing activities included the repurchase of $34.7 million of our common stock and was partly offset by the receipt of $11.4 million forproceeds received from the exercise of stock options by our employees and shares issued under our employee stock purchase program in fiscal 2005 and used $35.3 million to repurchase 1.5 million shares of our common stock.

As of June 26, 2005, there remained approximately 5.5 million shares of our common stock approved for repurchase under a repurchase program authorized by the Board of Directors that extends through June 2006. Since the inception of the stock repurchase program in January 2001, we have repurchased 6.6 million shares of our common stock at an average price of $18.28 per share, with an aggregate value of $121.0 million. We intend to use available cash to finance purchases under the program. At the discretion of our management, the repurchase program can be implemented through open market or privately negotiated transactions. We will determine the time and extent of repurchases based on our evaluation of market conditions and other factors.

Fiscal 2006 Outlook:

We target approximately $100 to $120 million in capital spending in fiscal 2005, which is greater than fiscal 2004. The capital additions will be primarily for equipment to increase our LED chip production capacity and continued investment in the high power packaged LED XLamp line. We also target to spend $300 million and hire 300 new employees over the next five years. We anticipate that cash from operations will fund the majority of our expenditures. We target that our cash from operations will be higher in fiscal 2005 than it was in fiscal 2004 due to higher profitability resulting from greater targeted revenue. Therefore, we plan to meet the cash needs for the business for fiscal 20052006 through cash from operations and cash on hand. We also anticipate that long termplan to meet long-term cash needs will be met with cash flow from operations or cash on hand over the next two fiscal years. Actual results may differ from our targets for a number of reasons as we discuss herein.addressed in this report. We may also issue additional shares of common stock or use available cash on hand for the acquisition of complementary businesses or other significant assets. From time to time, we evaluate strategic opportunities and potential acquisitionsinvestments in complementary businesses as strategic opportunities and anticipate continuing to make such evaluations. As a result of our planned closure of the Cree Microwave-Sunnyvale facility, we target that we will need to make additional cash outlays for severance costs and possibly to buy out our lease that extends through November 2011. If we choose to buy out the lease, we may incur cash out flows of $4.0 million to $7.0 million to satisfy those obligations.

As of June 27, 2004,26, 2005, our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments held to maturity combined increased by $18.1$46.4 million, or 13%20%, over balances reported as of June 29, 200327, 2004 due to increased cash flow from operations. Our accounts receivable balance increased by $3.9 million or 9% over the accounts receivable balance as of June 29, 2003, which resulted from the overall increase in revenue offset partly by strong collections management during fiscal 2004. Our revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 was $90.9 million, which was 42% higher than the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003 revenue of $64.1 million. Our net property and equipment also has also increased by $22.0$68.1 million or 9%25% since June 29, 200327, 2004 due to investments made to expand production capacity. These investments are intended to aid us in meeting current and what we view as increasing future customer product demands on a cost-effective basis. We target that these investments in additional equipment will allow us to meet any increase inincreased demand for our products and thus may lead to higher revenue for us. The higherincreased property investment will also result in higher depreciation expense. Net deferred income taxes changed by $20.2 million due to accelerated depreciation and taxes on unrealized gains. Other assets declined by $10.9 million or 68% since June 29, 2003, while marketable

securities available for sale increased by $22.0 million or 100% since the end of fiscal 2003 due to the reclassification of our Color Kinetics investment, subsequent to the public offering of Color Kinetics common stock, from “other assets” on our consolidated balance sheet valued at cost of $12.7 million to marketable securities available for sale. Consequently, the investment is now recorded at fair market value under SFAS No. 115. The net unrecognized gain of $9.3 million has been recorded as a comprehensive income item in the shareholders’ equity section of our consolidated balance sheet. This $12.7 million reclassification from other assets was offset by a $1.9 million increase in deposits that were related to fixed asset additions. Our deferred revenue account increaseddecreased by $2.9$8.4 million to $8.4 million$67,000 at June 27, 200426, 2005 as a resultwe were able to estimate our sales returns in accordance with Statement of the terms of our agreements with Sumitomo and OSRAM, which require us to establish reserves at the time we ship LED products to Sumitomo and OSRAM based upon a percentage of the total purchase price of such products.Financial Accounting Standards No. 48.

Contractual Obligations

At June 27, 2004,26, 2005, payments to be made pursuant to significant contractual obligations are as follows (000’s omitted):

Purchase obligations are generally forrelate to the purchase of goods and services in the ordinary course of business such as raw materials, supplies and capital equipment. We use blanket purchase orders to communicate expected requirements to certain of our vendors. Purchase obligations reflect vendor commitments to vendors under purchase orders where the commitments are firm.

Operating leases include rental amounts due on our four leased facilities. These facilities are comprised ofcomprise both office and manufacturing space. The first facility has a remaining lease term forof approximately sevensix and one half years. The second facility lease expires in approximately sixfive years. The third and fourth leases arelease is for sales officesand technical support that expireexpires in approximately three years. The fourth lease relates to a sales office and expires in June 2005 and2006. We had a fifth lease that expired in July 2005, respectively. We are also subject to a transition services agreement with ATMI, pursuant to which ATMI licensed a portion of its facility to us for our use through April 2005. All of the remaining lease agreements provide for rental adjustments for increases in base rent (up to specific limits) property taxes and general property maintenance that would be recorded as rent expense if applicable.

Item 7A.    Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

As of June 27, 2004,26, 2005, we held a long-term investment in the equity securities of Color Kinetics, which is treated for accounting purposes under SFASStatement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 115, “Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities” as an investment in available-for-sale securities. This investment is carried at fair market value based upon the quoted market price of that investmentthe stock as of June 27, 2004,26, 2005, with net unrealized gains or losses excluded from earnings and reported as a separate component of shareholders’ equity.

It is our policy to write downwrite-down these types of equity investments to their market value and record the related write downwrite-down as an investment loss on our consolidated statements of operations if we believe that an other-than-temporary decline existed in our marketable equity securities. As of June 27, 2004,26, 2005, we do not believe that an other-than-temporary decline existed in our investment in Color Kinetics, as the market value of the security was above our cost. This investment is subject to market risk of equity price changes. The fair

market value of this investment as of June 27, 2004,26, 2005, using the closing sale price as of June 25, 2004,24, 2005, was $22.0 million.

As$20.9 million, compared to the fair market value as of June 27, 2004, using the closing sales price as of June 25, 2004, which was $22.0 million. The potential loss in fair value resulting from a hypothetical 10% decrease in quoted equity price was approximately $2.1 million at June 26, 2005 and $2.2 million at June 27, 2004.

As of June 26, 2005, we hold investmentsheld warrants in the equity of a private companiescompany valued at $2.9 million, with our investment in Lighthouse being the only remaining investment that has a net carrying value recorded on our consolidated balance sheet. An adverse movement of equity market prices would likely have an impact on our investment in Lighthouse, although the impact cannot be directly quantified. Such a movement and the related underlying economic conditions could negatively affect the prospects of Lighthouse, its ability to raise additional capital and the likelihood of our being able to realize this investment through liquidity events such as initial public offerings, mergers and private sales.

$37,000. We hold and expect to continue to consider investments in minority interests in companies having operations or technology in areas within our strategic focus. We generally are not subject to material market risk with respect to our investments classified as marketable securities as such investments are readily marketable, liquid and do not fluctuate substantially from stated values. Many of our investments are in early stage companies or technology companies where operations are not yet sufficient to establish them as profitable concerns. One of our investments is in a publicly traded company whose share prices are subject to market risk. Management continues to evaluate its investment positions on an ongoing basis. See Note 7, “Investments” in the consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report for further information on our policies regarding investments in private and public companies.

We have invested some of the proceeds from our January 2000 public offeringcash from operations into high-grade corporate debt, commercial paper, government securities and other investments at fixed interest rates that vary by security. These investments are A grade or better in accordance with our cash management policy. At June 27, 2004,26, 2005, we had $149.4$206.3 million invested in these securities.securities compared to $149.4 million at June 27, 2004. This increase in investments was primarily due to our increased cash flow from operations in fiscal 2005. Although these securities generally earn interest at fixed rates, the historical fair values of such investments have not differed materially from the amounts reported on our consolidated balance sheets. Therefore, we believe that potential changes in future interest rates will not create material exposure for us from differences between the fair values and the amortized cost of these investments. The potential loss in fair value resulting from a hypothetical 10% decrease in quoted market price was approximately $20.5 million at June 26, 2005 and $14.9 million at June 27, 2004.

We currently have no debt outstanding.outstanding or off-balance sheet obligations, commitments or contingencies or guarantees and we do not use special purpose entities for any transactions. With two of our larger customers, we maintain a foreign currency adjustment to our sales price if certainJapanese and Euro exchange rates against the U.S. dollar are not maintained. During fiscal 20042005 and fiscal 2003,2004, we recognized $489,000$234,000 and $442,000,$489,000, respectively, of other non-operating incomerevenue associated with proceeds received from one of these customers for foreign currency adjustments. These revenue adjustments represent our main risk with respect to foreign currency, since our contracts and purchase orders are denominated in U.S. dollars. We have no commodity risk.

CERTAIN BUSINESS RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

Described below are various risks and uncertainties that may affect our business. These risks and uncertainties are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, including ones that we currently deem immaterial or that are similar to those faced by other companies in our industry or business in general, may also affect our business. If any of the risks described below actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Our operating results and margins may fluctuate significantly.

Although we experienced significant revenue and earnings growth in the past year, we may not be able to sustain such growth or maintain our margins, and we may experience significant fluctuations in our revenue, earnings and margins in the future. For example, historically,Historically, the prices of our LEDs have declined based on market trends. We attempt to maintain our margins by constantly developing improved or new products, which commandprovide greater value and result in higher prices, or by lowering the cost of our LEDs. If we are unable

to do so, our margins will decline. Our operating results and margins may vary significantly in the future due to many factors, including the following:

These or other factors could adversely affect our future operating results and margins. If our future operating results or margins are below the expectations of stock market analysts or our investors, our stock price will likely decline.

If we are unable to produce and sell adequate quantities of our high-brightness and mid-brightness LED chip products and improve our yields, our operating results may suffer.

We believe that our ability to gain customer acceptance of our high-brightness and mid-brightness LED chip products and to achieve higher volume production and lower production costs for those products will be important to our future operating results. We must reduce costs of these products to avoid margin reductions from the lower selling prices we may offer due to our competitive environment and/or to satisfy prior contractual commitments. Achieving greater volumes and lower costs requires improved production yields for these products. We may encounter manufacturing difficulties as we ramp up our capacity to make our newest products.Our failure to produce adequate quantities and improve the yields of any of these products

could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Some of our customers may encounter difficulties with their manufacturing processes using our XBright and XThin devices due to the non-standard die attachment processes required, which could increase product returns and impact customer demand, each of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. We are continuing to work with our customers to develop and expand our X-class products to help meet their market and packaging requirements.

Our operating results are substantially dependent on the development of new products based on our SiC and GaN technology.

Our future success will depend on our ability to develop new SiC and GaN solutions for existing and new markets. We must introduce new products in a timely and cost-effective manner, and we must secure production orders from our customers. The development of new SiC and GaN products is a highly complex process, and we historically have experienced delays in completing the development and introduction of new products. Products currently under development include larger, higher quality substrates and epitaxy, wide bandgap RF and microwave products based on SiC and GaN, SiC power devices, near UV laser diodes, higher brightness, thinner LED products and high power packaged LEDs. The successful development and introduction of these products depends on a number of factors, including the following:

If any of these or other factors become problematic, we may not be able to develop and introduce these new products in a timely or cost-efficient manner.

Our results of operations, financial condition and business would be harmed if we are unable to grow customer demand and revenue to utilize our expanded capacity.

We are currently in the process of expanding our production capacity by adding new equipment and facilities and transitioning the production of our LED products from two-inch to three-inch wafers.We have committed substantial resources to these efforts. For example, in the third quarter of fiscal 2005, we purchased an existing wafer fabrication facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. If we are unable to generate sufficient customer demand for our products, we would not be able to utilize our expanded capacity and our margins would decrease, due in part to higher fixed costs associated with additional capacity, and our results could decline. In addition, if we are unable to grow our revenues, which are affected by product mix as well as demand, our margins would decrease and our results could decline.

Our LED revenues are highly dependent on our customers’ ability to source or develop efficient phosphor solutions to enable them to use our LED chips to produce competitive white LED products.

Some of our customers package our blue LEDs in combination with a phosphor coatingphosphors to create white LEDs. Nichia currently has the majority of the market share for white LEDs because it has developed a white LED lamp solution that includes an efficient phosphor solution to create a bright white output and it has a number of patents that cover portions of the technology.LEDs. The phosphor solutions that our

customers usehave used in their products are generally have not been as efficient as the phosphor solution that Nichia useshas used in its products. As a result, the white LEDs that our customers produce historically have not been as bright as Nichia’s white LEDs. WeLEDs.We are assisting our customers in their efforts to develop or gain access to more competitive phosphor solutions. Evensolutions.Even if our customers are able to develop or secure more competitive phosphor solutions, there can be no assurance that they will be able to compete with Nichia, which has an established market presence. Growth in sales of our high-brightness LED chips used in thesewhite light applications is dependantdependent upon our customers’ ability to develop, secure and implement more competitive phosphor solutions.

We are highly dependent on trends in mobile appliancesphones to drive a substantial percentage of LED demand.

Our results of operations could be adversely affected by reduced customer demand for LED products for use in mobile appliances. In the fourth quarter ofFor fiscal 2004,2005, we derived nearly one-half of our LED revenue and approximately 40% of our overall revenue from sales of our products intofor use in mobile appliancephone applications. Our design wins are spread over numerous models and customers. Our ability to maintain or increase our LED product revenue depends in part on the number of models into which our customers design our products and the overall demand for these products.products, which is impacted by seasonal fluctuations. Also, design cycles in the handset industry are short and demand is volatile, which makes production planning difficult to forecast. However, our design wins are spread over a broad model and customer base.

If we experience poor production yields, our margins could decline and our operating results may suffer.

Our SiC and GaN materials products and our LED, power and RF device products are manufactured using technologies that are highly complex. We manufacture our SiC wafer products from bulk SiC crystals, and we use these SiC wafers to manufacture our LED products and our SiC-based RF and power semiconductors. Our Cree Microwave subsidiary manufactures its RF semiconductors on silicon wafers purchased from others. During our manufacturing process, each wafer is processed to contain numerous die, which are the individual semiconductor devices,devices. The RF and the RF, power devices and XLamp products then are further processed by incorporating them into packages for sale as packaged components. The number of usable crystals, wafers, dies and packaged components that result from our production processes can fluctuate as a result of many factors, including but not limited to the following:

We refer to the proportion of usable product produced at each manufacturing step relative to the gross number that could be constructed from the materials used as our manufacturing yield.

If our yields decrease, our margins could decline and our operating results would be adversely affected. In the past, we have experienced difficulties in achieving acceptable yields on new products, which has adversely affected our operating results. Weresults.We may experience similar problems in the future, and we cannot predict when they may occur or their severity. For example, in the upcoming fiscal year, we may encounter short-term yield challenges in our LED production as we convert the majority of our production from two-inch wafers to three-inch wafers. In some instances, we may offer products for future delivery at prices based on planned yield improvements. Reduced yields or failure to achieve planned yield improvements could significantly affect our future margins and operating results.

We depend on a few large customers, and our revenues can be affected by their contract terms.

Historically, a substantial portion of our revenue has come from large purchases by a small number of customers. Accordingly, our future operating results depend on the success of our largest customers and on our success in selling large quantities of our products to them. The concentration of our revenues with a few large customers makes us particularly susceptible to factors affecting those customers. For example, if demand for their products decreases, they may limit or stop purchasing our products and our operating results could suffer. We are unable to predict whether such a change would be positive or negative for our business. For example, Sumitomo’s inventory of our products can vary materially each quarter based on fluctuations in their customer demand. The Sumitomo contract provides that Sumitomo may decrease its purchase commitment or terminate the contract if its inventory of our products reaches a specified level. In general, the success of our relationships with our customers is subject to a number of factors, including the dynamics of the overall market. For example, if some of our competitors were to license technology or form alliances with other parties, our business may be impacted.

Our traditional LED chip customers may reduce orders as a result of our entry into the packaged LED markets.

We began shipping packaged LED devices in fiscal 2005. Some of our customers may reduce their orders for our chips as a result of us competing with them in the packaged LED business. This reduction in orders could occur faster than our packaged LED business can grow in the near term. This could reduce our overall revenue and profitability.

The markets in which we operate are highly competitive and have evolving technology standards.

The markets for our LED, RF and microwave and power semiconductor products are highly competitive. In the LED market, we compete with companies that manufacture or sell nitride-based LED chips as well as those that sell packaged LEDs. Competitors are offering new UV, blue, green and white LEDs with aggressive prices and improved performance. In the RF power semiconductor field, the products manufactured by Cree Microwave compete with products offered by substantially largerThese competitors who

have dominated the market to date based on product quality and pricing.may reduce average sales prices faster than our cost reduction. The market for SiC wafers is also becoming competitive as other firms in recent years have begun offering SiC wafer products or announced plans to do so. We also expect significant competition for our other products, such as those for use in microwave communications and power switching.

We expect competition to increase. In order to achieve our revenue growth objectives in fiscal 2006, we need to continue to develop new products that enable our customers to win new designs and increased market share in key applications such as mobile phones. One major supplier dominates this market and we anticipate that the competition for these designs will be intense. Therefore, our ability to provide higher performance LEDs at lower costs will be critical to our success. Competitors may also try to align with some of our strategic customers. This could mean lower prices for our products, reduced demand for our products and a corresponding reduction in our ability to recover development, engineering and manufacturing costs. Competitors also could invent new technologies that may make our products obsolete. Any of these developments could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Litigation and SEC matters could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

We and certain of our officers and current or former directors are defendants in pending litigation (as described in Item 3. Legal Proceedings of this report) that alleges, among other things, violations of federal securities laws. Defending against existing and potential securities and class action litigation will likely require significant attention and resources and, regardless of the outcome, result in significant legal expenses, which will adversely affect our results unless covered by insurance or recovered from third parties. If our defenses are ultimately unsuccessful, or if we are unable to achieve a favorable resolution, we could be liable for damage awards that could materially adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, the SEC in July 2003 initiated an informal inquiry of us and requested that we voluntarily provide certain information to the SEC staff. We have cooperated with the SEC in this informal inquiry. If the SEC elects to pursue a formal investigation of us, responding to any such investigation and any resulting enforcement action could require significant diversion of management’s attention and resources in the future as well as significant legal expense and exposure to possible penalties or fines that could materially adversely affect our results of operations.

Our business and our ability to produce our products may be impaired by claims that we infringe intellectual property rights of others.

Vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights characterize the semiconductor industry. These traits have resulted in significant and often protracted and expensive litigation. Litigation to determine the validity of patents or claims by third parties of infringement of patents or other intellectual property rights could result in significant expense and divert the efforts of our technical personnel and management, even if the litigation results in a determination favorable to us. In the event of an adverse result in such litigation, we could be required to:

There can be no assurance that third parties will not attempt to assert infringement claims against us with respect to our current or future products. We have also indemnified certain of our customers that we will protect them in the event that they are sued by our competitors for intellectual property violations. Under these indemnifications we may be responsible for future payments to them to settle royalty claims with our competitors. From time to time we receive correspondence asserting that our products or processes are or may be infringing patents or other intellectual property rights of others. Our practice is to investigate such claims to determine whether the assertions have merit and, if so, we take appropriate steps to seek to obtain a license or to avoid the infringement. However, we cannot predict

whether a license will be available or that we would find the terms of any license offered acceptable or commercially reasonable. Failure to obtain a necessary license could cause us to incur substantial liabilities and costs and to suspend the manufacture of products.

There are limitations on our ability to protect our intellectual property.

Our intellectual property position is based in part on patents owned by us and patents exclusively licensed to us by NCSU,North Carolina State University, Boston University and others. The licensed patents include patents relating to the SiC crystal growth process that is central to our SiC materials and device business. We intend to continue to file patent applications in the future, where appropriate, and to pursue such applications with U.S. and foreign patent authorities.

However, we cannot be sure that patents will be issued on such applications or that our existing or future patents will not be successfully contested by third parties. Also, since issuance of a valid patent does not prevent other companies from using alternative, non-infringing technology, we cannot be sure that any of our patents (or patents issued to others and licensed to us) will provide significant commercial protection, especially as new competitors enter the market.

In addition to patent protection, we also rely on trade secrets and other non-patented proprietary information relating to our product development and manufacturing activities. We try to protect this information through appropriate efforts to maintain its secrecy, including requiring employees and third parties to sign confidentiality agreements. We cannot be sure that these efforts will be successful or that the confidentiality agreements will not be breached. We also cannot be sure that we would have adequate remedies for any breach of such agreements or other misappropriation of our trade secrets, or that our trade secrets and proprietary know-how will not otherwise become known or be independently discovered by others.

Where necessary, we may initiate litigation to enforce our patent or other intellectual property rights. For example, this past fiscal year we settled a patent infringement action that our Cree Lighting subsidiary and the Trustees of Boston University filed against AXT, Inc., seeking enforcement of a patent relating to semiconductor devices manufactured using a GaN-based buffer technology. Any such litigation may require us to spend a substantial amount of time and money and could distract management from our day-to-day operations. Moreover, there is no assurance that we will be successful in any such litigation.

If we are unable to produce and sell adequate quantities of our high-brightness and mid-brightness LED chip products and improve our yields, our operating results may suffer.

We believe that our ability to gain customer acceptance of our high-brightness and mid-brightness LED chip products and to achieve higher volume production and lower production costs for those products, will be important to our future operating results. We must reduce costs of these products to avoid margin reductions from the lower selling prices we may offer due to our competitive environment and/or to satisfy prior contractual commitments. Achieving greater volumes and lower costs requires improved production yields for these products. We are continuing to work with our customers to develop and expand our XBright products to help meet their market and packaging requirements.We may encounter manufacturing difficulties as we ramp up our capacity to make our newest products. Our failure to produce adequate quantities and improve the yields of any of these products could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Some of our customers may encounter difficulties with their manufacturing processes using our XBright and XThin devices due to the non-standard die attachment processes required, which could increase product returns and impact customer demand, each of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our operating results are substantially dependent on the development of new products based on our SiC and GaN technology.

Our future success will depend on our ability to develop new SiC and GaN solutions for existing and new markets. We must introduce new products in a timely and cost-effective manner, and we must secure production orders from our customers. The development of new SiC and GaN products is a highly complex process, and we historically have experienced delays in completing the development and introduction of new products. Products currently under development include larger, higher quality substrates and epitaxy, high power RF and microwave devices in both SiC and GaN, SiC power devices, near UV laser diodes, higher brightness, thinner LED products and high powered packaged LEDs. The successful development and introduction of these products depends on a number of factors, including the following:

If any of these or other factors become problematic, we may not be able to develop and introduce these new products in a timely or cost-efficient manner.

We must generate new customer demand for our LDMOS products in order to offset expenses of our Cree Microwave segment.

Revenues of our Cree Microwave segment will depend on our ability to attract new customers for our LDMOS products. Due to the current market environment for microwave devices and the lengthy customer design-in and qualification process for our LDMOS products, it may take many quarters to develop new customers for our Cree Microwave segment and we may not succeed in doing so. Until we develop sufficient new business for Cree Microwave’s products, our expenses for this segment will exceed its revenues.

We depend on a few large customers and our revenues can be affected by their contract terms.

Historically, a substantial portion of our revenue has come from large purchases by a small number of customers. Accordingly, our future operating results depend on the success of our largest customers and on our success in selling large quantities of our products to them. The concentration of our revenues with a few large customers makes us particularly dependent on factors affecting those customers. For example, if demand for their products decreases, they may limit or stop purchasing our products and our operating results could suffer. In addition, our Sumitomo contract provides that Sumitomo may decrease its purchase commitment or terminate the contract if its inventory of our products reaches a specified level. The contract also requires us to establish two rolling reserves based upon a percentage of the total purchase price of our products. We defer revenue recognition on the amounts added to reserves. If claims are made against reserves, we may recognize lesser amounts of revenue or no revenue on substitute sales to Sumitomo and any product returned may not be salable at the same price or at all. Another example is our OSRAM contract, which allows OSRAM to decrease its purchase commitment if we do not offer prices at certain specified levels or as agreed to by the parties. Contract terms with other large customers also operate in a manner that could have a negative impact on our financial results.

We face significant challenges managing our growth.

We have experienced a period of significant growth that has challenged our management and other resources. We have grown from 390680 employees on June 27, 199925, 2000 to 1,2351,322 employees on June 27, 200426, 2005 and from revenues of $60.1$108.6 million for the fiscal year ended June 27, 199925, 2000 to $306.9$389.1 million for the fiscal year ended June 27, 2004.26, 2005. To manage our growth effectively, we must continue to:

We will spend substantial amounts of money in supporting our growth and may have additional unexpected costs. We may not be able to expand quickly enough to exploit potential market opportunities. Our future operating results will also depend on expanding sales and marketing, research and development and administrative support. If we cannot attract qualified people or manage growth effectively, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected. For example, we are currently trying to build a worldwide team of sales and marketing employees for our solid-state lighting and power businesses. If we are not successful in recruiting personnel, our projected growth may be lower than our forecasts. Conversely, if the product demand from our customers does not expand as we anticipate, our margins may decrease in part due to higher costs associated with our recent increase in capacity that which would not be used.

Performance of our investments in other companies could negatively affect our financial condition.

From time to time, we have made investments in public and private companies that engage in complementary businesses. Should the value of any such investments we hold decline, the related write-down in value could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition as reflected in our consolidated balance sheets. In addition, if the decline in value is determined to be other-than-temporary, the related write-down could have a material adverse effect on our reported net income. For example,We currently hold an interest in one public company. In the fourththird quarter of fiscal 20022005, we recordedsold our investment in Lighthouse Technologies, Inc. at its carrying value and no longer have investments in privately held companies with a non-operating charge of $22 million (pre-tax) relating to the declinesnet carrying value on our financial statements other than a $37,000 value for warrants held in the value of equity investments determined to be other-than-temporary as a result of continued depressed market conditions. On June 27, 2004, we held interestsprivate company.

An investment in one publicanother company as well as several private companies. Each of these investments is subject to the risks inherent in the business of the company in which we have invested and to trends affecting the equity markets as a whole. Our privatePrivate company investments are subject to additional risks relating to the limitations on transferability of our interests due to the lack of a public market and to other transfer restrictions. Our investmentInvestments in a publicly held company exposes uscompanies are subject to market risks and couldmay not be subject to contractual limitations on transferability.For example, we are restricted from selling our shares in Color Kinetics for a period of 180 days from June 22, 2004, the date of their initial public offering.liquidated easily. As a result, we may not be able to reduce the size of our positions or liquidate our investments when we deem appropriate to limit our downside risk.

Our investments in public and private companies also may cause fluctuations to our earnings results. For example, during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, we recorded an $814,000 decrease to our tax expense related to an increase in the value of our Color Kinetics investment and in the third quarter of fiscal 2005, we recorded a $4.1 million increase in our income tax expense related to an unrealized capital gain on the Color Kinetics investment, which we offset against a prior year tax carryforward.In future periods, we will be required to continue to adjust our deferred tax asset valuation allowance in connection with any increase or decrease in the value of our investment in Color Kinetics, which could increase or decrease our income tax expense for the period. This may cause fluctuations in our earnings results that do not accurately reflect our results from operations.

Our manufacturing capacity may not be sufficient to keep upaligned with customer demand.

We experienced significant growth in fiscal 2004 and are operating near capacity for LED products. Although we are taking steps to addressbalance our manufacturing capacity concerns,needs, if we are not able to increaseadjust our capacity quickly enough to respond to customer demand, or if our expansion plans are not adequate enough to address our capacity constraints, or if ramping up new capacity costs more than we anticipate, our business and results of operationfrom operations could be adversely affected.

As part of our initiative to address these capacity concerns, weimpacted. We are in the process of transitioning our production process in several ways. First, we are shifting production of the majority of our LED products from two-inch wafers to three-inch wafers over the course of fiscal 2005. We must first qualify our production processes for each product on systems designed to accommodate the larger wafer size, and some of our existing production equipment must be refitted for the larger wafer size. In the past we have experienced lower yields for a period of time following a transition to a larger wafer size until use of the

larger wafer is fully integrated in production and we begin to achieve production efficiency. We anticipate that we will experience similar temporary yield reductions during the transition to the three-inch wafers. If we experience delays in the qualification process, the transition phase takes longer than we expect, or if we are unable to attain expected yield improvements, our operating results may be adversely affected.

We also are in the process of qualifying our Sunnyvale, California location to produce SiC Schottky diode products and transitioning production of Schottky diode products to that location over the next several quarters. We may experience a transition period as we start to ramp up production in which our yields are low or our production costs do not meet our expectations. If we experience delays in qualifying this facility for production of SiC Schottky diodes, if this transition period extends longer than we expect, or if we are not able to achieve the production levels and margins we expect, our operating results could be adversely affected.

We also are exploring ways to expand our manufacturing capacity and plan to make certain expenditures in the coming fiscal year to acquire new equipment. Any potential expansion projects may be delayed, cost more than we anticipate or require long transition periods, any of which could impact our ability to meet our customers’ demands and affect our operating results.

We also are in the process of transitioning our production process in several ways. First, over the course of fiscal 2005, we began shifting production of our LED products from two-inch wafers to three-inch wafers. This process involves qualifying our production processes for each product on systems designed to accommodate the larger wafer size. In the past we have experienced lower yields for a period of time following a transition to a larger wafer size until use of the larger wafer is fully integrated in production and we begin to achieve production efficiency. We have experienced similar short-term yield challenges during the first part of the transition to the three-inch wafers.If we experience delays in the qualification process, the transition phase takes longer than we expect, or if we are unable to attain expected yield improvements, our operating results. may be adversely affected.

We rely on a few key suppliers.

We depend on a limited number of suppliers for certain raw materials, components, services and equipment used in manufacturing our products, including key materials and equipment used in critical stages of our manufacturing processes. We generally purchase these limited source items with purchase orders, and we have no guaranteed supply arrangements with such suppliers. If we were to lose such key suppliers or suppliers are unable to support our demand, our manufacturing operations could be interrupted or hampered significantly.

If government agencies or other customers discontinue or curtail their funding for our research and development programs, our business may suffer.

Changes in Federal budget priorities could adversely affect our contract revenue. In the past,Historically, government agencies and other customers have funded a significant portion of our research and development activities. When the government makes budget priorities, such as in times of war, our funding has the risk of being redirected to other programs. Government contracts are also subject to the risk that the government agency may not appropriate and allocate all funding contemplated by the contract. In addition, our government contracts generally permit the contracting authority to terminate the contracts for the convenience of the government, and the full value of the contracts would not be realized if they arewere prematurely terminated. Furthermore, we may be unable to incur sufficient allowable costs to generate the full estimated contract values, and there is some risk that any technologies developed under these contracts may not have commercial value. If government and customer funding is discontinued or reduced, our ability to develop or enhance products could be limited, and our business,business; results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

If our products fail to perform or meet customer requirements, we could incur significant additional costs.

The manufacture of our products involves highly complex processes. Our customers specify quality, performance and reliability standards that we must meet. If our products do not meet these standards, we may be required to replace or rework the products. In some cases our products may contain undetected defects or flaws that only become evident after shipment. We have experienced product quality, performance or reliability problems from time to time. Defects or failures may occur in the future. If failures or defects occur, we could:

We are subject to risks from international sales.

Sales to customers located outside the U.S. accounted for approximately 83%87%, 80%83% and 65%80% of our revenue in fiscal 2005, 2004 2003 and 2002,2003, respectively. We expect that revenue from international sales will continue to be the majority of our total revenue. International sales are subject to a variety of risks, including risks arising from currency fluctuations, trading restrictions, tariffs, trade barriers and taxes. Also, U.S. Government export controls could restrict or prohibit the exportation of products with defense applications. Because all of our foreign sales are denominated in U.S. dollars, our sales are subject to variability as prices become less competitive in countries with currencies that are low or are declining in value against the U.S. dollar and more competitive in countries with currencies that are high or increasing in value against the U.S. dollar.

If we fail to evaluate and implement strategic opportunities successfully, our business may suffer.

From time to time we evaluate strategic opportunities available to us for product, technology or business acquisitions.acquisitions, investments or other relationships. For example, in fiscal 2004 we acquired the gallium nitride substrate and epitaxy business of ATMI. If we choose to make an acquisition, we face certain risks, such as failure of the acquired business in meeting our performance expectations, diversion of management attention, retention of existing customers of the acquired business and difficulty in integrating the acquired business’s operations, personnel and financial and operating systems into our current business. We may not be able to successfully address these risks or any other problems that arise from our recent or future acquisitions. Any failure to successfully evaluate strategic opportunities and address risks or other problems that arise related to any acquisition, investment or relationship could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

These or other factorsThe process of winding down the business of our Cree Microwave segment could adversely affect our futureresults of operation.

In June 2005, we announced plans to close the silicon RF and microwave semiconductor business of our Cree Microwave segment in Sunnyvale, California. We accepted last-time buy orders from our customers through July 2005 and expect to wind-down operations by the end of calendar 2005. We have written down the assets and disclosed certain expenses we expect to incur in winding down the business and closing the Sunnyvale facility. We will continue to be obligated on our lease for that facility through November 2011. The amount of expense we expect to incur for lease obligations was calculated assuming that we can sublease the facility beginning in fiscal 2007. If our estimated expenditures related to the closure are higher than expected, we are unable to find a tenant to sublease the facility from us or we are unable to fulfill last-time buy orders and wind-down operations by the end of calendar 2005, our results of operation could be adversely affected.

If we are unable to attract and hire a new Chief Financial Officer or if the search process takes too long, our business could suffer.

We are actively seeking a new Chief Financial Officer in connection with the recent announcement that Cynthia B. Merrell, our current Chief Financial Officer, is resigning. Ms. Merrell has agreed to continue her service as Chief Financial Officer until such time as we secure a qualified successor, but not later than mid-February 2006. There is intense competition for qualified senior management, particularly those with the financial expertise needed for this position. If we are unable to attract and hire a new Chief Financial Officer in a timely manner, our business could suffer from the uncertainty caused by the continued management search process. If Ms. Merrell were to step down prior to our hiring of a replacement, our business also could be harmed.

Litigation could adversely affect our operating results and margins.financial condition.

We are defendants in pending litigation (as described in Part I, Item 3, entitled “Legal Proceedings,” of this report) that alleges, among other things, violations of federal securities laws.Defending against existing and potential securities and class action litigation will likely require significant attention and resources and, regardless of the outcome, result in significant legal expenses, which will adversely affect our results unless covered by insurance or recovered from third parties. If our future operatingdefenses are ultimately unsuccessful, or if we are unable to achieve a favorable resolution, we could be liable for damage awards that could materially adversely affect our results or marginsof operations and financial condition.

Compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional risks and expenses.

Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and new regulations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), are belowcreating uncertainty for public companies such as ours. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations in many cases, and as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies, which could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, our efforts to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased sales, general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention. In particular, our efforts to comply with Section 404 of the expectationsSarbanes-Oxley Act of stock market analysts or2002 and the related regulations regarding our investors,required assessment of our stock price may decline.internal control over financial reporting and our independent accountants’ audit of that assessment for fiscal 2005 have required, and we expect such efforts to continue to require, the commitment of significant financial and managerial resources.

Item 8.    Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

Index to Consolidated Financial Statements

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Board of Directors and Shareholders

of Cree, Inc.

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Cree, Inc. as of June 27, 200426, 2005 and June 29, 2003,27, 2004, and the related consolidated statements of operations,income, shareholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended June 27, 2004.26, 2005. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Cree, Inc. at June 27, 200426, 2005 and June 29, 2003,27, 2004, and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended June 27, 2004,26, 2005, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

As discussedWe also have audited, in Note 2 toaccordance with the consolidatedstandards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the effectiveness of Cree, Inc.’s internal control over financial statements,reporting as of June 26, 2005, based on criteria established in fiscal 2003Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Company adopted StatementCommittee of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, GoodwillSponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and Other Intangible Assets and changed its method of accounting for goodwill.our report dated August 10, 2005 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Raleigh, North Carolina

July 23, 2004

/s/    Ernst & Young LLP

Raleigh, North Carolina August 10, 2005

CREE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except per share amounts)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

CREE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONSINCOME

(In thousands, except per share amounts)