Segment and Geographic Data (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Oct. 03, 2015 USD ($)	Jul. 04, 2015 USD ($)	Apr. 04, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 27, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 28, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 29, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) Segment	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reporting segments | Segment									5
Segment Operating Income Description									The Company evaluates business segment performance on operating income, exclusive of certain items ("segment operating income"). Only dedicated, direct selling, general, and administrative expenses of the segments are included in the calculation of segment operating income. The Company's calculation of segment operating income excludes such selling, general, and administrative costs as global operations, sales and marketing, information systems, finance and administration groups, as well as restructuring and severance costs, goodwill and long-lived asset impairment charges, and other items. Management believes that evaluating segment performance excluding such items is meaningful because it provides insight with respect to intrinsic operating results of the Company. These items represent reconciling items between segment operating income and consolidated operating income. Business segment assets are the owned or allocated assets used by each business.
Product sales									$ 2,297,165	$ 2,488,757	$ 2,364,617
Royalty revenues									3,323	4,525	6,362
Total revenue	$ 555,928	$ 560,654	$ 590,470	$ 593,436	$ 610,764	$ 638,211	$ 641,929	$ 602,378	2,300,488	2,493,282	2,370,979
Gross Margin	125,556	130,144	141,482	145,038	143,524	158,392	164,093	145,283	542,220	611,292	567,260
Depreciation expense									154,340	160,804	155,064
Interest expense (income)									25,685	24,457	23,130
Capital expenditures									147,142	156,974	153,077
Total Assets	3,152,986				3,274,151				3,152,986	3,274,151	3,224,455
Operating margin reconciliation [Abstract]
Impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets	0	(62,980)	0	0	0	0	0	0	(62,980)	0	0
Restructuring and severance costs	(9,821)	(2,324)	(5,660)	(1,410)	(1,971)	(3,508)	(9,014)	(6,404)	(19,215)	(20,897)	(2,814)
U.S. pension settlement charges	0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	0	$ (15,588)	$ 0	$ 0	0	(15,588)	0
Executive Compensation Credit (Charges)									0	0	1,778
Segment Operating Income									97,799	189,111	197,682
MOSFETS Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									426,672	470,377	449,299
Royalty revenues									11	160	178
Total revenue									426,683	470,537	449,477
Gross Margin									58,626	59,614	59,387
Depreciation expense									47,172	53,939	50,606
Interest expense (income)									0	0	0
Capital expenditures									29,289	33,672	41,869
Total Assets	477,984				499,550				477,984	499,550	543,037
Diodes Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									533,931	579,288	547,264
Royalty revenues									0	0	0
Total revenue									533,931	579,288	547,264
Gross Margin									119,762	132,021	121,231
Depreciation expense									35,526	39,592	37,305
Interest expense (income)									11	21	54
Capital expenditures									38,971	41,713	44,431
Total Assets	718,548				732,502				718,548	732,502	788,121
Optoelectronic Components Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									279,553	258,248	228,194
Royalty revenues									0	0	51
Total revenue									279,553	258,248	228,245
Gross Margin									88,625	91,165	76,732
Depreciation expense									14,118	13,266	12,484
Interest expense (income)									20	41	122
Capital expenditures									21,853	23,008	18,310
Total Assets	325,600				422,257				325,600	422,257	213,128
Resistors And Inductors Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									704,109	755,251	700,115
Royalty revenues									3,312	4,365	6,133
Total revenue									707,421	759,616	706,248
Gross Margin									208,384	241,090	221,851
Depreciation expense									30,576	32,380	31,998
Interest expense (income)									113	119	79
Capital expenditures									38,169	42,950	32,515
Total Assets	839,249				812,664				839,249	812,664	843,685
Capacitors Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									352,900	425,593	439,745
Royalty revenues									0	0	0
Total revenue									352,900	425,593	439,745
Gross Margin									66,823	87,402	88,059
Depreciation expense									18,168	20,524	21,596
Interest expense (income)									13	18	28
Capital expenditures									14,763	12,694	13,052
Total Assets	543,507				605,281				543,507	605,281	636,637
Corporate Other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									0	0	0
Royalty revenues									0	0	0
Total revenue									0	0	0
Gross Margin									0	0	0
Depreciation expense									8,780	1,103	1,075
Interest expense (income)									25,528	24,258	22,847
Capital expenditures									4,097	2,937	2,900
Total Assets	$ 248,098				$ 201,897				248,098	201,897	199,847
Operating Segments [Member] | MOSFETS Segment [Member]
Operating margin reconciliation [Abstract]
Segment Operating Income									21,366	21,095	19,140
Operating Segments [Member] | Diodes Segment [Member]
Operating margin reconciliation [Abstract]
Segment Operating Income									95,887	106,068	96,581
Operating Segments [Member] | Optoelectronic Components Segment [Member]
Operating margin reconciliation [Abstract]
Segment Operating Income									68,410	73,463	62,259
Operating Segments [Member] | Resistors And Inductors Segment [Member]
Operating margin reconciliation [Abstract]
Segment Operating Income									173,805	203,343	186,583
Operating Segments [Member] | Capacitors Segment [Member]
Operating margin reconciliation [Abstract]
Segment Operating Income									44,863	62,460	64,494
Segment Reconciling Items [Member]
Operating margin reconciliation [Abstract]
Impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets									(62,980)	0	0
Restructuring and severance costs									(19,215)	(20,897)	(2,814)
U.S. pension settlement charges									0	(15,588)	0
Executive Compensation Credit (Charges)									0	0	1,778
Segment Operating Income									$ (224,337)	$ (240,833)	$ (230,339)