【By Guan察者网, Liu Bai】

The ongoing struggle between NXP Netherlands and its Chinese subsidiary continues. According to a report by Reuters on December 19, a letter shows that NXP China has locked in silicon wafer supply with local companies, sufficient to cover all production needs for a certain type of power chip in 2026. Previously, the Dutch parent company had stopped supplying wafers to this Chinese business entity.

Analysts believe this move will ensure that NXP China can continue to produce insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power chips and modules. These chips and modules are core switching devices used to regulate current in electric vehicles and industrial equipment.

The report states that although Sino-Dutch relations were eased at the government level in mid-December, legal disputes and internal struggles over control of NXP Semiconductor continue. Both NXP China and Zhaoxin Technology have warned that if a long-term solution is not reached, the chip supply disruption may occur again.

Reuters obtained a letter sent by NXP China to distributors at the beginning of this month, stating that the company has secured wafer capacity for IGBT products in 2026 with local suppliers, and is accelerating verification of Wingsky Semi's wafer products to ensure "sufficient supply."

Analysts point out that this previously undisclosed measure marks further separation of the supply chain between NXP China and the Dutch parent company, and could even lead to a complete split.

NXP Netherlands told Reuters that it currently has "no communication" with its Chinese subsidiary and claimed that the subsidiary "has no intention of reaching a short-term solution through negotiations to restore chip supply to customers."

Data shows that IGBT product revenue accounted for about 0.1% of NXP Semiconductor's total revenue in 2024.

NXP China has not yet responded to the request for comment on this matter.

Wafer produced by NXP Semiconductor, Visual China

A source familiar with the situation revealed that NXP China has informed local distributors that due to the lack of wafer supply from the Netherlands, the wafer inventory at its factory in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, is currently low.

The source said that the problem of insufficient wafer inventory has begun to cause shortages of NXP Semiconductor chips for Chinese domestic automakers, mainly affecting the company's core best-selling products—logic devices, transistors, and diodes.

This week, Japanese carmaker Honda also stated that due to the chip shortage, some of its factories in China and Japan would have to temporarily shut down.

In the letter, NXP China stated that Wingsky Semi will supply 12-inch automotive-grade IGBT wafers, and its Shanghai-based production base currently has a monthly capacity of 30,000 wafers.

The letter also mentioned that in addition to Wingsky Semi, NXP China will also purchase 8-inch IGBT wafers from Shanghai GAT Semiconductor (as written in the original text), as well as United Nova Technology.

However, the letter did not explicitly disclose the specific quantity of the secured wafer supply.

On November 19, Dutch Economic Minister Karremans issued a statement announcing the suspension of the administrative order against NXP Semiconductor. The Chinese side welcomed the Dutch decision to suspend the administrative order, considering it a first step in the right direction toward resolving the issue, but noted that there is still a gap from addressing the root cause of global semiconductor supply chain turbulence and chaos—"revoking the administrative order."

Zhaoxin Technology stated on November 28 that it had appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court against the decision by the Amsterdam Enterprise Court to deprive its subsidiary NXP Semiconductor of control.

Zhaoxin Technology stated that NXP Netherlands is avoiding the issue of its "legitimate control rights," making negotiations difficult to maintain, while the Amsterdam Enterprise Court, under the influence of the Dutch government, made a unilateral ruling within a day without hearing Zhaoxin Technology's arguments, which was inappropriate.

However, Reuters reported that the Dutch Supreme Court is not expected to make a decision this year.

Also on November 28, NXP China issued a statement saying that the so-called "open letter to NXP China's leadership" published by NXP Netherlands on its website ignored the facts and attempted to mislead the market, causing great confusion.

The statement said that NXP Netherlands, on one hand, has taken destructive measures against NXP China employees, such as deleting email accounts and stopping access to related IT systems, which objectively disrupted daily business operations and information exchange between the two sides; on the other hand, it falsely implied in the open letter that "it was unable to directly contact NXP China's management," which is seriously inconsistent with the facts. In essence, it is misleading the public by distorting the truth and shifting blame.

NXP China stated that NXP Netherlands, in addition to halting wafer supply to NXP China, also fails to pay funds as agreed, including but not limited to refusing to fulfill service fees exceeding 1 billion yuan under multiple contracts, and delaying wages for NXP China employees. It also publicly issued letters to falsely accuse NXP China of quality issues,涉嫌 maliciously damaging our commercial reputation, and demanded suppliers not to cooperate with NXP China at global supplier conferences, blocking NXP China's normal operations and production supply from the upstream of the industry chain.

On December 11, the Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference. Spokesperson He Yada responded to the issue regarding NXP Semiconductor.

He Yada said that recently, Zhaoxin Technology sent letters to the independent directors and custodians of NXP Netherlands, inviting them to visit China to negotiate on issues of enterprise control and restoring supply chain stability and smoothness, showing the willingness to resolve the problem. The Chinese side has requested the Dutch embassy in China and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs to implement the consensus reached in the talks with China, and to push NXP Netherlands to send personnel to China as soon as possible.

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Original: toutiao.com/article/7585731893593653795/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.