Littelfuse, Inc. said Thursday that it will transfer its semiconductor wafer manufacturing from Irving, Texas to Wuxi, China in a phased transition in the next three to four years. After the transfer, it will close the Irving plant.
Littelfuse will invest $16 million in a new wafer fabrication plant in Wuxi that will be adjacent to a plant the company acquired in May 2006 when it purchased Concord Semiconductor.
The company expects to save $9 million to $10 million per year by transferring to China.
The plant in Irving produces thyristor surge protection and power control devices. Littelfuse had acquired the Irving plant in 2003 after it acquired Teccor Electronics Corp. About 180 employees will be affected by the transfer.
Littelfuse provides circuit protection products and solutions and had 2005 sales of $467.1 million.