Ownership Submission
FORM 3
 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
OMB APPROVAL
OMB Number: 3235-0104
Expires: January 31, 2005
Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5

(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
  McDevitt Michael E
 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)
05/22/2012		 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
CREE INC [CREE]
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
C/O CREE, INC., 4600 SILICON DRIVE		 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
__X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
VICE PRESIDENT AND INTERIM CFO
 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
(Street)

DURHAM, NC 27703		 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned
(Instr. 4)		 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
COMMON STOCK 5,109
D
 

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. SEC 1473 (7-02)
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)		 3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares
NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION (RIGHT TO BUY) 09/04/2010 09/04/2014 COMMON STOCK 2,333 $ 27.47 D  
NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION (RIGHT TO BUY) 09/02/2009(1) 09/02/2015 COMMON STOCK 10,666 $ 22.9 D  
NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION (RIGHT TO BUY) 09/01/2010(2) 09/01/2016 COMMON STOCK 4,500 $ 35.89 D  
NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION (RIGHT TO BUY) 09/01/2011(3) 09/01/2017 COMMON STOCK 6,000 $ 55.3 D  
NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION (RIGHT TO BUY) 09/01/2012(4) 09/01/2018 COMMON STOCK 7,000 $ 30.92 D  

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
Director 10% Owner Officer Other
McDevitt Michael E
C/O CREE, INC.
4600 SILICON DRIVE
DURHAM, NC 27703		       VICE PRESIDENT AND INTERIM CFO  

Signatures

Michael E. McDevitt 05/31/2012
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) Option vested as to 5,333 shares on each of September 2, 2009 and September 2, 2010.
(2) Option vests as to 1,500 shares on each of September 1, 2010. September 1, 2011 and September 1, 2012.
(3) Option vests as to 2,000 shares on each of September 1, 2011, September 1, 2012 and September 1, 2013.
(4) Option vests as to 2,334 shares on September 1, 2012 and as to 2,333 shares on September 1, 2013 and September 1, 2014.

Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, See Instruction 6 for procedure.

Potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB number.