Cree LED Introduces XLamp X21 Multi-Color LEDs, A New Platform for Smaller, Lighter, and More Impactful Lighting Designs

DURHAM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 10, 2026--

Cree LED ®, a Penguin Solutions brand (Nasdaq: PENG ), today announced the launch of XLamp® X21 Multi-Color LEDs, a new 4-color LED platform innovation that combines an ultra-compact footprint, exceptional optical performance, and extensive color flexibility to help lighting manufacturers create smaller, lighter, and more impactful lighting products.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261110581630/en/

Leveraging Cree LED's latest multi-color LED technology, XLamp X21 Multi-Color LEDs feature four different colors of LED die placed close together in a compact 2.1 x 2.1 mm ceramic package, making them the smallest ceramic multi-color LEDs in Cree LED's portfolio. The smaller optical source enables lighting manufacturers to reduce luminaire size and weight while maintaining the beam quality and visual performance demands of indoor directional, architectural, entertainment, automotive, and specialty lighting applications.

Designed with an optimized optical profile, the X21’s compact source size also enables smaller, lighter and lower-cost secondary optics while achieving intense, tightly controlled beams. Cree LED testing shows that relative to the larger XLamp XP-L Color LED paired with a 45 mm color-mixing optic, the new X21 LED with a 38 mm color-mixing optic (29% smaller area) delivers improved optical performance, including a tighter beam angle, higher candela/lumen conversion and superior color mixing.

“The XLamp X21 platform represents a significant step forward in compact multi-color LED technology,” said Joe Clark, President of Cree LED. “By bringing strong optical performance and broad color flexibility into a smaller package, we’re giving manufacturers new options to create visually distinctive lighting designs. The XLamp X21 Multi-Color LED platform reflects our continued investment in industry-leading solutions that set the standard for reliability, optical quality, and ease of integration."

XLamp X21 Multi-Color LEDs offer the broadest range of color combinations in Cree LED's multi-color portfolio, supporting eleven different LED die colors across fourteen product configurations. This flexibility enables lighting designers to optimize color quality, visual impact, and system design for a wide range of applications.

Samples of X21 LEDs are available now and production quantities are available with standard lead times. To see the full color portfolio and to learn more about X21 LEDs, visit: https://www.cree-led.com/news/xlamp-x21-multi-color-leds/

Cree LED is a registered trademark of CreeLED, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

About Cree LED

Cree LED, a Penguin Solutions brand, offers one of the industry’s broadest portfolios of application optimized LED chips and components, leading the industry in performance and reliability. With more than 35 years of innovation, our strong IP portfolio and unique business model are designed to support supply chain continuity. We deliver best-in-class technology and breakthrough solutions for focused applications in high power and mid-power general lighting, portable lighting, horticulture, specialty lighting and video screens. For more information, visit cree-led.com.

Cree LED XLamp X21 Multi-Color LEDs

A cruise ship passenger accused of killing a woman shortly after the vessel departed from Texas told FBI agents he beat and choked her in their cabin after an argument caused him to “snap,” according to court documents.

Jason Watford, 48, of Tyler, Texas, was set to make an initial federal court appearance on a murder charge Tuesday in Galveston. He was being held at a county jail. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could respond to the allegations.

A man who said he is Watford’s son declined to comment Tuesday when reached at a phone listing in public records for relatives.

The alleged killing happened aboard the MSC Seascape, a towering white vessel that has 2,270 cabins and can host nearly 5,900 guests on five- and seven-night trips to the Caribbean, according to the company’s website.

The woman, who was not immediately identified, was killed Sunday after the vessel left Galveston, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court. A ship investigator contacted authorities to report that the woman was found dead in her room with multiple facial injuries.

A housekeeper who knocked to deliver towels saw the woman lying motionless on the floor and what looked like blood on Watford's hands and pants when he opened the door, the affidavit said.

In an interview with FBI agents after the ship returned to Galveston on Monday morning, Watford said he and the woman had boarded the vessel together Sunday and began arguing while having dinner at one of the ship's restaurants, according to the affidavit. The argument continued in their room, it said.

Watford told agents he struck the woman several times and “applied pressure” to her neck “for approximately four to five minutes” until he became exhausted, the affidavit said. He said she lay motionless for about 10 minutes until the housekeeper arrived.

Surveillance video showed that Watford entered the room at 7:46 p.m. and the victim went in about 25 minutes later, authorities said. At 9:15 p.m., he was seen on the video leaving the room wearing a different shirt and pants, according to the complaint, and sat on the hallway floor looking at his phone.

MSC Cruises said authorities told the ship to return to Galveston after the crew reported the passenger's death, and that the vessel resumed its voyage Monday. The company said it was cooperating with authorities and providing support to those impacted.

Homicide investigations on cruise ships are uncommon. Earlier this year, a teenager was charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise ship out of Florida.

Associated Press writer Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed.

This photo provided by the Galveston County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026 shows Jason Watford. (Galveston County Sheriff's Office via AP)

The MSC Seascape cruise ship is visible above the newly opened cruise terminal near 16th Street and Harborside Drive in Galveston, Texas, Friday, Nov., 7, 2025. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)