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Littelfuse, Inc. (nasdaq: LFUS) is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, markets and sells electronics, automotive and electrical circuit protection products and related technologies used in a wide variety of industries worldwide.

Littelfuse products protect people, devices and business assets from harm caused by short circuits, power surges, electrostatic discharge, lightning, electrical load switching and other electrically-harmful occurrences.

Littelfuse offers the industry’s broadest and deepest portfolio of circuit protection products and solutions, as well as a comprehensive line of highly reliable Electromechanical and Electronic Switch and Control Devices for commercial and specialty vehicles and Sensors for automobile safety systems. The company also manufactures Power Distribution Centers for mining operations and generator controls and protection for marine applications.

Technologies offered by Littelfuse include Fuses; Gas Discharge Tubes (GDTs); Positive Temperature Coefficient Devices (PTCs); Protection Relays; PulseGuard® ESD Suppressors; SIDACtor® Devices; TVS Diode Arrays (SPA™ Family of Products); Switching Thyristors; TVS Diodes and Varistors.

Headquartered in Chicago, IL, the company has more than 30 sales, distribution, manufacturing and engineering facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

The company serves three major markets:

Electronics Littelfuse overvoltage and overcurrent circuit protection products include Thyristors, TVS Diode Arrays (SPA™), Subminiature and Surface Mount Fuses, Positive Temperature Coefficient Devices (PTCs), Varistors, TVS Diodes, Gas Discharge Tubes (GDTs), PulseGuard® ESD Suppressors, Sidactor® devices. Littelfuse electronic products are used in consumer electronic devices such as tablets, smart phones and digital cameras; home entertainment systems and appliances, telecommunications infrastructure equipment; power control and life-saving medical equipment.

Automotive Littelfuse automotive products include Blade Fuses, Bolt Fuses, MasterFuse, TVS Diodes, Varistors, Hybrid Electric Vehicle Fuses, Cable Fuses, Heavy Duty Electromechanical and Solid-State Switches and Sensors. They also include high-current circuit protection devices for on-board vehicle electronics systems. Customers include some of the world’s largest automotive original equipment manufacturers; manufacturers of commercial vehicles and equipment; and automotive parts retailers.

Electrical Littelfuse electrical circuit protection and control products include Power Fuses, Fuseholders, Varistors, Protection Relays, Generator Controls, Alarm Panels and Custom Power Centers. These products are used to provide protection for switches, motors, power distribution centers, machine control equipment, marine and land-based generators, heating and cooling systems and solar panels and converters.

History
Littelfuse was founded in 1927 by Edward V. Sundt, who invented the first small, fast-acting protective fuse used to prevent sensitive test meters from burning out.

Over the following decades, the company grew by inventing new types of fuses and circuit protection devices for evolving new industries. Littelfuse fuses were used in some of the first television sets and their high-reliability MICRO® and PICO® subminiature fuses were incorporated in the NASA Gemini Man in Space program. The company also developed the first blade-type ATO fuse. This first-in-the-market fuse technology became the automotive industry’s global standard. Littelfuse was also the first to incorporate indication technology in high power industrial fuses. The company has a long history of innovation and has been credited over the years with engineering many newer, smaller fuses and circuit protection devices to fit the smaller size demands of cellular phones, cameras, tablets and other consumer electronics.

New Technologies
Since 1999, Littelfuse acquired 12 companies to broaden their portfolio offering. Acquired brands include Accel AB; Cole Hersee Company; Concord Semiconductor; Pudenz (part of Heinrich Industrie AG); Selco A/S; Shock-Block; Smart Glow Fuse; Startco Engineering; Teccor Electronics; Wickmann (part of Heinrich Industrie AG).