Early Technology Breakthroughs

In the 1950s, patents were issued for the PhotoStress® products developed by Dr. Felix Zandman. These products reveal and measure stress distribution in airplanes, cars, and other structures under live load conditions. His research in this area led him to develop Bulk Metal® foil resistors, the most precise and stable resistors available — both then and now, over four decades later.

Dr. Zandman, with the financial support of Alfred P. Slaner, founded Vishay in 1962 to develop and manufacture Bulk Metal foil resistors. The Company was named after the village in Lithuania where relatives of Dr. Zandman and Mr. Slaner had perished during the Holocaust. The Company’s initial product portfolio consisted of foil resistors and foil resistance strain gages.

Passive Component Acquisitions

During the 1960s and 1970s, Vishay became known as the world’s leading manufacturer of foil resistors, PhotoStress products, and strain gages. Vishay’s subsequent decision to grow through acquisitions proved very successful. Starting in 1985, Vishay acquired resistor companies Dale Electronics, Draloric Electronic, and Sfernice. These acquisitions helped produce dramatic sales growth. In the early 1990s, Vishay applied its acquisition strategy to the capacitor market by purchasing Sprague Electric, Roederstein, and Vitramon.

Vishay acquired BCcomponents (former passive components businesses of Philips Electronics and Beyschlag) in 2002. This acquisition expanded Vishay’s portfolio of passive components and greatly enhanced its global market position.

Solutions for Weighing and Measurement

Through strategic acquisitions, Vishay’s original strain gage business has become the foundation of an extensive portfolio of products for weighing and measurement that includes resistance strain gages (in which Vishay is the worldwide leader), transducers (the metallic structures to which strain gages are cemented), electronic instruments that measure and control output of the transducers, and complete systems for process control and on-board weighing applications that include hardware and software. Vishay designs, installs, and maintains customized systems for process control in paper mills, food processing plants, and other facilities worldwide. Vishay on-board weighing systems are used in the waste handling, trucking, forestry, quarry and mining, and aerospace industries.

Growth in Semiconductors

In 1998, Vishay acquired the Semiconductor Business Group of TEMIC, which included Telefunken and 80.4% of Siliconix, producers of MOSFETs, RF transistors, diodes, optoelectronics, and power and analog switching integrated circuits.

Vishay’s next semiconductor acquisition came in 2001, with the purchase of the infrared components business of Infineon Technologies. That was followed the same year by Vishay’s acquisition of General Semiconductor, a leading global manufacturer of rectifiers and diodes. The addition of Infineon’s infrared components group and General Semiconductor enhanced Vishay’s existing Telefunken and Siliconix businesses and propelled Vishay into the top ranks of discrete semiconductor manufacturers. In 2005, Vishay purchased the remaining 19.6% of Siliconix shares.

In April 2007, Vishay completed the acquisition of selected discrete semiconductor and module product lines from International Rectifier®. The acquired product lines, which complement Vishay’s existing product portfolio, consist of planar high-voltage MOSFETs, Schottky diodes, diode rectifiers, fast-recovery diodes, high-power diodes and thyristors, power modules (a combination of power diodes, thyristors, MOSFETs, and IGBTs), and automotive modules and assemblies. The extension of Vishay’s product offerings in the high-voltage and high-power range for discrete semiconductors represents another step in Vishay’s successful strategy of being able to offer “one-stop-shop” service for discrete electronic components.