(Bloomberg) — Nexperia rejected a claim by its Chinese unit that it was interfering with production by blocking wafer supplies, as a feud within the Dutch company rages even after Beijing took steps to restore supplies of the vital automotive components.
“Nexperia China should be in the possession of a sufficient amount of wafers and finished products available to continue operations for several months,” the Nijmegen, Netherlands-based company said in a statement on Friday. “Any claims from Nexperia China to the contrary lead to serious doubt over stock management practices by local management.”
The statement came after the Chinese subsidiary told employees on Friday Dutch management was blocking the supplies, failing to allocate funds and not providing necessary support for its operations.
The chipmaker, owned by Chinese firm Wingtech Technology Co., supplies power-control chips used by automakers from BMW AG to Volkswagen AG. The Dutch government took control over key decisions at Nexperia in September, triggering a reaction from Beijing that led to a shortage of the parts and disrupted car production in Europe and beyond. Even as the Netherlands and China work to resolve the conflict politically, tensions within the company remain high.
The Dutch government intervened over signals that Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng, who was also chief executive officer of Nexperia, was asset-stripping for the benefit of his other businesses and threatening the supply of vital chips in Europe. Beijing responded by restricting exports of Nexperia’s products from China.
Wingtech has denied those claims and demanded that Zhang get reinstated as CEO following his suspension by an Amsterdam court in October after a petition by European management.
Negotiations to resolve the chip shortage have advanced in recent weeks, with Beijing authorities facilitating the resumption of some exports from Nexperia’s Chinese facility.
“While this signals progress, we note that this is a relaxation of export restrictions by means of exemptions rather than a full restoration of the supply chain,” Nexperia said on Friday.
Nexperia has fabrication facilities in Germany and the UK that ship wafers for testing and assembly to sites in China, Malaysia and the Philippines before many head back to Europe. Its plant in Guangdong, China, is one of the largest sites of its kind in the world.
The Dutch firm said it has been working through alternative solutions to mitigate supply disruptions, including by selling and shipping wafers to its customers directly.
“We are committed to maintaining these workaround solutions for as long as necessary and until a normal supply chain with a full turnkey flow can be restored,” it said on Friday.
The firm also said it is looking to expand capacity at other locations and expects to do this in phases over the course of 2026.
In a sign a political solution remains fraught, China’s Ministry of Commerce expressed disappointment on Friday over recent comments from Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans on the Nexperia case, calling them misleading and reckless ahead of planned talks in Beijing.
Beijing’s criticism was a response to the Dutch minister saying in an interview with the Guardian on Thursday he “would have done the same thing again” to assert control over the Chinese-owned chipmaker.
“China is extremely disappointed and strongly dissatisfied with such misleading, distorted and willful remarks,” a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement on Friday, adding that the Dutch government’s seizure of Nexperia turned the once-stable global chip supply chain into chaos.
A delegation from the Netherlands is set to travel to Beijing early next week to find a “mutually agreeable” solution to the Nexperia issue, according to a statement from the Dutch government on Thursday.
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