Cree and Sumitomo Sign Contract for LED Chips

Sumitomo Corp. of Tokyo has agreed to purchase LED products from Cree Inc. for $160 million during the Durham, N.C., company's fiscal year ending in June 2005, subject to customer demand and other terms and conditions. As part of the arrangement, the companies will extend their distribution relationship through Cree's fiscal year 2007.

Cree's full line of LEDs, including its standard-, mid- and high-brightness devices, are expected to be represented in the purchases. The company's technology, combined with the Japanese demand for high-brightness blue, green and white LEDs, continues to be successful in that market, according to Koichiro Kusano, general manager of Sumitomo's Electronic Materials and Equipment Div.