Huawei Export Ban a ‘Pretty Significant Setback for Us,’ Says Cree CEO

Cree views 5G as a “multiyear expansion, with major traction coming,” said CEO Gregg Lowe on a Tuesday investor call. The company supplies silicon-carbide RF and power chips for 5G infrastructure applications. “There have been a number of recent announcements coming out of Asia pointing towards growing 5G momentum in that region. While the global pandemic has further delayed some rollouts in other regions, we continue to be well positioned to support this global expansion.” Cree stopped shipping to Huawei “for the better part of a year” after the Commerce Department’s export ban took effect, said Lowe: “We have no Huawei revenue plans in any of our future projections or forecasts.” Any “large impact” from Huawei, “we've basically taken it out of the picture,” he said. “We have developed good relationships with other players around the world and are repurposing the technology that we had developed for Huawei for those customers.” Lowe concedes the “Huawei situation was a pretty significant setback for us,” he said. “But we've adjusted our plans, we've adjusted our focus to go after non-Huawei customers.”