The European arm of Nexperia is mulling expansion of its assembly and test facilities outside China, sources told Bits&Chips. Both the Malaysian and Philippine plants were constructed with excess factory floor space, which could be utilized to ramp capacity relatively quickly. Nexperia declined to comment.
The move is a response to a widening rift between the firm’s European front-end and Chinese packaging operations. Nexperia’s Chinese owner, Wingtech Technologies, stopped recognizing the authority of the European headquarters after the Dutch government seized control over the chipmaker. This prompted Nexperia Europe to suspend wafer shipments to the Dongguan facility, citing “failure to comply with agreed contractual payment terms,” according to a letter sent to customers.
Efforts of Dutch, Chinese and EU diplomats to de-escalate the situation have only been partially successful. Beijing has withdrawn export restrictions that were instituted as retaliatory measures for the Dutch intervention and Washington has suspended a new rule that subjects subsidiaries to the same export curbs as their Chinese parents. This rule played a major part in the creation of the conflict.
In a press release, Nexperia calls these developments “positive steps,” while acknowledging that the divide between the European and Chinese arms is a continued cause for concern. Barring a diplomatic solution, this leaves the European front-end with an urgent shortage of packaging capacity – about 70 percent of Nexperia’s products are packaged in China. Expansion of the Malaysian and Philippine plants is no quick fix, however: it will take over a year to complete. It was previously reported that Nexperia is already looking for new external packaging partners.
For its part, Nexperia China claims it holds enough inventory to meet customer demand for the foreseeable future. It has also expedited efforts to source wafers elsewhere.
Nexperia’s accelerated assembly capacity build-out may be a bittersweet boon for spinout Itec. Like many of its peers, the back-end equipment outfit has been grappling with low demand as the semiconductor market goes through a prolonged downturn.
Last update: 6 November 2025, 10:00
