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Wolfspeed Inc.
Wolfspeed Inc. (Durham NC; NYSE: WOLF; formerly Cree Inc. semiconductor division; revenue ~$807M FY2024; Cree spun off Wolfspeed 2021) is the world's largest manufacturer of silicon carbide (SiC) substrates and GaN-on-SiC wafers — the material platform that enables the highest-frequency, highest-power GaN RF semiconductors. Wolfspeed's GaN-on-SiC wafers are the substrate material for defense radar MMICs (AESA radar arrays in F-35, F-22, Aegis ships, THAAD), 5G base station power amplifiers (Massive MIMO radio heads), satellite uplinks, and electronic warfare systems. The US military's investment in GaN radar capability (DARPA-backed GaN MMIC programs since the 1990s) effectively built the technology stack that Wolfspeed now commercializes. Wolfspeed opened the Mohawk Valley Fab (Marcy NY) in 2022 — a $1B+ greenfield 200mm GaN-on-SiC fab built with US DoD support — the largest GaN semiconductor facility in the world. Wolfspeed is financially distressed (negative cash flow, significant debt load) but strategically critical: it is the dominant US supplier of the material platform for defense and 5G GaN RF semiconductors.
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Where they make it
2 facilities
Wolfspeed Durham NC SiC Crystal & Fab (legacy Cree) →
USNorth Carolina · fab
Wolfspeed's original Durham NC headquarters fab complex (legacy Cree semiconductor campus). Produces SiC crystal boules and 150mm SiC substrates used as the base for GaN-on-SiC epitaxy. Also retains GaN MMIC production capability for defense customers and LED chip production heritage. The Durham campus is the birthplace of commercial SiC and the intellectual origin of the US GaN defense radar technology base. Source: https://www.wolfspeed.com/
Wolfspeed Mohawk Valley Fab (Marcy NY) →
USNew York · fab
Wolfspeed's Mohawk Valley Fab in Marcy NY (Utica metro); opened 2022; 200mm (8-inch) GaN-on-SiC wafer facility; largest GaN-on-SiC fab in the world by planned capacity. Built with ~$1B+ capex and partial US DoD subsidization; targeted at 5G base station PAs and military radar chips. 200mm GaN-on-SiC is a significant advance over standard 150mm — reduces per-wafer cost substantially. Mohawk Valley was planned to offset Wolfspeed's Durham NC (Cree legacy) facility limitations. Source: https://www.wolfspeed.com/company/mohawk-valley/
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SiC Power Devices (MOSFETs, Diodes)
55%SiC & GaN Wafer Materials
35%RF Power Devices (GaN-on-SiC)
10%
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Did you know2022
The Mohawk Valley Fab (Marcy NY) — Wolfspeed's $1B+ greenfield 200mm GaN-on-SiC facility, the world's largest — was built in Upstate New York partly because the site is within the boundaries of the Oneida Nation tribal lands, qualifying Wolfspeed for federal economic development support under programs targeting economically distressed regions. The $500M in CHIPS and Science Act direct funding Wolfspeed received for Mohawk Valley was justified on dual grounds: (1) domestic defense supply chain security (GaN chips for F-35/Aegis radar) and (2) regional economic development in Upstate New York. The facility was designed as a 200mm GaN-on-SiC wafer fab — a generation ahead of the 150mm fabs that dominate GaN production — targeting both 5G base station power amplifiers (civilian) and next-generation defense radar MMICs (military). The unusual alignment of Mohawk Valley tribal economic development incentives, US national security GaN production requirements, and the scale economics of 5G infrastructure deployment created a $1B facility that would likely not have been built in this location — or at this scale — without all three motivations operating simultaneously.
Wolfspeed Inc. ↗Incident2024
Wolfspeed Inc. — the company whose GaN-on-SiC wafers underpin US defense radar (F-35 AESA, Aegis upgrades, THAAD) and 5G base station PAs — has been in deep financial distress since 2023. The company carries ~$6.8B in long-term debt (FY2024), generates negative operating cash flow, and has seen its stock decline from ~$140/share (2021) to under $5/share by early 2025. The core problem: Wolfspeed invested $1B+ in the Mohawk Valley Fab (Marcy NY) and a new Siler City NC SiC crystal fab ($3B planned) anticipating explosive EV (electric vehicle) SiC power semiconductor demand — but EV adoption slowed dramatically in 2023-2024, eliminating the revenue growth that was supposed to service the debt. The GaN RF defense business remains profitable but is too small to offset SiC EV losses. A Wolfspeed bankruptcy or sale of the company to a foreign acquirer would create a US national security problem: the largest domestic supplier of GaN-on-SiC for F-35-class radar chips, in financial distress, potentially available to acquisition by non-US interests. The DoD has recognized this and Wolfspeed has received federal support through CHIPS Act and Title III Defense Production Act programs.
Wolfspeed Inc. ↗Origin2023
Wolfspeed descends from Cree Inc., founded in 1987 by researchers from North Carolina State University's semiconductor lab. Cree pioneered silicon carbide (SiC) materials and fabricated the first commercially viable blue LED using SiC-based technology in the 1990s — before switching to GaN-on-SiC, which enabled the high-brightness blue LEDs that eventually transformed global lighting efficiency (replacing incandescent bulbs and earning the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventors including Shuji Nakamura). Cree spun off its semiconductor power and materials business as Wolfspeed in 2021, separating the LED business (now "CreeLED") from the SiC power semiconductor business — which became the strategic core of the EV revolution.
Wolfspeed Inc ↗