MINNEAPOLIS, November 2, 2012 – Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY), the industry leader in consumer electronics, today announced a new LED light bulb. Powered by Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) LEDs, the new bulb is designed with improved features to make adoption of LED lighting easier for consumers. The Insignia LED bulb, available exclusively at Best Buy, was developed in partnership with local Twin Cities inventor, Dave Carroll, and offers distinct advantages over existing LED bulbs on the market today.
Unlike other LED bulbs, the Insignia LED light bulb looks like a traditional incandescent light bulb, a familiar bulb shape for consumers, and provides a more ambient, omni-directional light. Additionally, the bulb provides immediate full brightness when turned on, unlike CFL bulbs on the market which require a ‘warm up’ period. Mercury and gas free, the Insignia LED light bulb avoids CFL toxic hazards and disposal hassles.
“It was important to me to create a LED bulb that would solve some of the current pain points for consumers,” said Dave Carroll, LED Bulb inventor. “Consumers have traditionally resisted other high-efficiency light bulbs due to their unattractive shapes, strange lighting and high costs. Teaming with my Insignia partners at Best Buy and the lighting experts at Cree enabled me to bring a better quality bulb to market at a more affordable price.”
“Our goal was to offer our customers a great LED bulb,” says Richard Rommel, senior vice president of exclusive brands for Best Buy. “Not only does our bulb look more like a traditional light bulb, customers will appreciate its quality and features, while earning back in energy savings the cost of the bulb within one to two years, depending on usage.”
The Insignia bulb uses 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and is designed to have a product life of more than 22 years. The bulb completed comprehensive Cree TEMPO (Thermal, Electrical, Mechanical, Photometric and Optical) analysis, a rigorous eligibility requirement for all products carrying the Cree ingredient brand. In addition, it was designed in accordance with ENERGY STAR® requirements and is currently undergoing testing to obtain certification. The bulb comes with a 10 year warranty.
“Everything Cree does is focused on accelerating the adoption of LED lighting,” said Norbert Hiller, executive vice president, Cree LEDs. “The new Insignia bulb is powered by Cree LEDs giving Best Buy customers a new high-performance bulb that is energy efficient and provides industry-leading light quality and value.”
The Insignia LED bulbs are priced at:
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450 Lumens (a 40 watt equivalent) – $13.99
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800 Lumens (a 60 watt equivalent) – $16.99
Facts per bulb – based on 800 Lumens (60W equivalent):
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Estimated Yearly Energy Cost – $1.57
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Based on three hours use per day
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11 cents/kWh
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Cost depends on rates and use
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The bulb is designed to last 22.8 years – based on three hours use per day
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Energy used – 13 watts
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Light appearance measures 3000K on a warm to cool light spectrum
Insignia bulbs are available for purchase on bestbuy.com and in all 1000 Best Buy stores nationwide.
About Best Buy Co., Inc.
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is the global leader in consumer electronics with more than 1,400 locations, $50B in annual revenue and the 11th largest retail website. Our nearly 170,000 employees are committed to helping deliver the technology solutions that provide value, enabling access to people, knowledge, ideas and fun – whether online, in-stores and via their mobile devices. Our competitive prices, vast assortment of products and services, highly knowledgeable staff and industry leading physical and digital assets make us the best value for consumers. To learn more about Best Buy, visit us at http://www.bby.com/. Shop us at http://www.bestbuy.com/ or stop by one of our stores to touch, test and try and latest technology. Find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bestbuy and follow us on Twitter at @BestBuy.
About Cree
Cree is leading the LED lighting revolution and making energy-wasting traditional lighting technologies obsolete through the use of energy-efficient, mercury-free LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting, and semiconductor products for power and radio-frequency (RF) applications.
Cree’s product families include LED fixtures and bulbs, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, power-switching devices and RF devices. Cree products are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, electronic signs and signals, power supplies and solar inverters.
For additional product and company information, please refer to www.Cree.com.
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ENERGY STAR® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Media Contacts:
Best Buy
press@bestbuy.com
Cree
Gena Fiegel
919.264.1203 or
Gena_Fiegel@cree.com