Chipmaker Nexperia’s China Arm Tells Staff to Ignore Dutch HQ, Deepening Semiconductor Split

The dispute over control of Nexperia is unfolding amid ongoing U.S.–China semiconductor supply chain tensions and export blacklists.

An employee works with a wafer in a production line of Dutch semiconductor company Nexperia, in Hamburg, Germany, on June 27, 2024. Fabian Bimmer/Reuters

China’s arm of chipmaker Nexperia has instructed employees to disregard directives from its Dutch headquarters, marking an escalation in a spiraling cross-border confrontation over control of the company that has already raised alarm bells across the global automotive and electronics supply chain.

In an internal memo published on Oct. 19 on its official WeChat account over the weekend, Nexperia China told staff that they are to follow orders only from the domestic management team and have the “right to refuse execution” of any external instructions—even if delivered through official corporate communications platforms such as Outlook or Microsoft Teams—unless approved by a China-based legal representative.