China sees Nexperia spat as a threat to global AI chips and semiconductor supply, says Wingtech

Wingtech’s chairwoman Ruby Yang on Monday warned that the global AI chip and semiconductor supply chain is now under direct threat because of the ongoing dispute over its control of Nexperia.

According to Bloomberg, Ruby said China believes this legal freeze by the Dutch government is pushing the entire industry closer to a production breakdown and undermining global trust in international investment.

Ruby took over as board chair in July, just months before the legal crisis began, and she has accused the Dutch state of violating a 2001 bilateral investment treaty with China, and claimed certain Dutch managers inside Nexperia are using the chaos for personal gain.

“Each day the dispute continues, the damage to the global industrial chain, international investment confidence and the shareholders deepens,” Ruby said.

Dutch court ruling split operations between Netherlands and China

This entire battle exploded when a court ruling removed Zhang Xuezheng, Wingtech’s founder, from his position as Nexperia CEO and handed voting rights to court-appointed trustees.

After that, Nexperia Netherlands stopped sending wafers to its plant in Guangdong, China, cutting off the flow of core chip materials.

In response, Nexperia China completely broke ties with its Dutch headquarters and began searching for local wafer suppliers to stay alive.

This has now created two disconnected versions of the same company. The Dutch side controls wafers, while the Chinese side runs finishing plants.

But neither can function alone. Ruby said clearly, “It must be stated that the direct and sole cause of the current supply disruption is the unilateral and unexpected halt of wafer supplies by Nexperia’s Dutch entity.”

The fallout has already begun. Honda announced it will shut down car production in Japan and China due to shortages. And Nexperia’s largest factory is in China, where the company previously handled around half its pre-crisis output.

While Zhang officially stepped down from Wingtech, he was still closely involved and had originally agreed to speak to Bloomberg before Ruby took over the interview. Ruby Yang joined the company back in 2019 and is now leading efforts to take the fight to the Dutch Supreme Court.

Ruby also shared that Wingtech sent a notice of dispute on October 15 and could go to international arbitration if the situation isn’t resolved in six months. That legal claim could be worth up to $8 billion, based on Wingtech’s valuation of Nexperia.

Dispute over Shanghai plant and pay hikes triggers more accusations

Another major issue in the fight is the WingSkySemi project, a wafer plant in Shanghai that was part of Nexperia’s strategic plan since 2020.

The facility was funded by WinWorld, Wingtech’s parent company, and Ruby said it had been approved by the same Dutch managers who are now accusing Wingtech of wrongdoing.

“Ironically, the Nexperia executives who initially signed that agreement are the very same three individuals who are now accusing Wingtech of misconduct,” Ruby said. She also accused them of hiking their own salaries while holding interim power.

Nexperia pushed back hard. A spokesperson for the company said, “We categorically reject Wingtech leadership’s insinuations that the interim management acted for personal gain.”

The company also claimed that under Zhang’s leadership, Wingtech inflated orders to the Shanghai plant to prop up its balance sheet, and later tried to fire the same Dutch executives who flagged the issue.

Still, the Dutch side said they want both parties to come back to the table. “We do want to take the opportunity here to repeat our call to Nexperia China and Wingtech to come to a constructive collaboration,” the company told Bloomberg.

Ruby doesn’t think that’s the plan. She said Nexperia is now expanding finishing operations in Malaysia, and that shows “a clear intent to de-couple from China.”

Despite that, Wingtech is still pushing for talks, having invited the court-appointed trustees for discussions, even while it appeals the ruling.

And Ruby made it clear they’re not backing off. “We still look forward to leading Nexperia to achieve even greater accomplishments,” she said.

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