Conventional asymmetric PCR is inefficient and difficult to optimize because limiting the concentration of one primer lowers its melting temperature below the reaction annealing temperature. Linear-After-The-Exponential (LATE)-PCR describes a new paradigm for primer design that renders assays as efficient as symmetric PCR assays, regardless of primer ratio. LATE-PCR generates single-stranded products with predictable kinetics for many cycles beyond the exponential phase. LATE-PCR also introduces new probe design criteria that uncouple hybridization probe detection from primer annealing and extension, increase probe reliability, improve allele discrimination, and increase signal strength by 80-250% relative to symmetric PCR. These improvements in PCR are particularly useful for real-time quantitative analysis of target numbers in small samples. LATE-PCR is adaptable to high throughput applications in fields such as clinical diagnostics, biodefense, forensics, and DNA sequencing. We showcase LATE-PCR via amplification of the cystic fibrosis CFDelta508 allele and the Tay-Sachs disease TSD 1278 allele from single heterozygous cells.