What was intended as a strategic move by Netherlands-based Nexperia has backfired spectacularly. Nexperia China has now announced full localization across its entire value chain. According to a recent report by the South China Morning Post, "Nexperia Semiconductor China stated that its domestic 12-inch wafer platform now covers all product categories." Furthermore, John Chang, CEO of Nexperia China, publicly declared, "We have completed full localization—from product definition and R&D to manufacturing."
The announcement of full localization by Nexperia China marks a pivotal turning point in this ongoing dispute. The original intent behind the Netherlands’ decision to cut off wafer supplies was to force Nexperia China back to the negotiation table. Instead, it catalyzed the emergence of a self-sufficient Chinese IDM ecosystem, no longer dependent on European front-end wafers. Indeed, CEO Zhang Qiuming’s assertion that “product definition, R&D, and manufacturing are fully localized” is substantiated by tangible progress.
According to available information, Nexperia China’s 12-inch automotive-grade wafers are primarily sourced from domestic suppliers including Dingtaikuanxin, Shanghai Jitao, and Xinlian Integration. IGBT wafers were fully transitioned to domestic production by the first quarter of 2026. All three core product lines—power devices, logic devices, and bipolar discrete components—have been migrated to the 12-inch platform, with over 1,300 production SKUs for 12-inch logic chips already in mass production. The Dongguan facility handles approximately 70% of Nexperia’s global packaging and testing capacity, with post-processing equipment localization exceeding 90%.
Most critically, since being cut off, Nexperia China has delivered over 40 billion chips to more than a thousand global customers within 11 months, achieving zero quality incidents. Delivery lead times for certain products have been reduced from 12 to 16 weeks down to four to six weeks. Even more significant is the technological gap: while Nexperia China has adopted the 12-inch platform, European facilities continue to rely predominantly on 6-inch and 8-inch wafers. A single 12-inch wafer yields 2.2 to 2.4 times more chips than an 8-inch wafer, reducing per-chip cost by approximately 50%, with automotive-grade yield stabilized around 99%.
With Nexperia China now firmly established and no longer vulnerable to supply disruptions, the Netherlands-based parent company has resorted to legal action, accusing Nexperia China of causing competitive harm through its independently developed domestic supply chain. This argument is inherently ironic: one party cuts off supply, prompting the other to build resilience—and then claims that resilience constitutes unfair competition. In reality, Nexperia China’s strategic shift carries substantial significance. It is not merely about replacing imports; it represents the reintegration of the global IDM value chain within China. The traditional model—“European wafers + Chinese packaging and testing”—has evolved into “Chinese wafers + Chinese packaging and testing + Chinese R&D + global customer base.”
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1881715044346891/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.