China is allowing Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV to export again, setting the stage for the Netherlands to suspend its powers over the Chinese-owned company.
Signaling a breakthrough in a conflict that threatened to disrupt automotive production around the world, the Dutch government is ready to shelve the measure that gave it the authority to change key corporate decisions, people familiar with the matter said.
That order, which was issued in September by Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans, sparked the dispute and could be rescinded as soon as next week if chip flows are confirmed.
Photo: Reuters
The chips have begun shipping again from Nexperia’s Chinese operations, said officials from several auto companies.
After receiving an export license from China this week, Aumovio SE — a parts manufacturer that supplies Volkswagen AG, Stellantis NV and BMW AG, — has shipped Nexperia semiconductors and components containing them, Aumovio CEO Philipp von Hirschheydt said in an interview.
Von Hirschheydt said he was told the Chinese Ministry of Commerce lifted the broader Nexperia export ban on Friday.
“It will take some time before all procedures and processes will get back to normal,” Von Hirschheydt said.
There’s still a chance for disruptions in the next four to six weeks, but “if everything I know today is correct, we are not going to be affected,” he said.
Shares of Wingtech Technology Co (聞泰科技), the Chinese parent company of Nexperia, surged in the final minutes of trading to close nearly 10 percent higher in Shanghai. European automakers and their suppliers gained on the news. Volkswagen shares climbed as much as 2.7 percent in Frankfurt, with BMW increasing as much as 2.5 percent. Shares of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Fiat-maker Stellantis also rose.
Honda Motor Co has been told Nexperia’s chip shipments in China have resumed, and the carmaker aims to get disrupted production back on track during the week of Nov. 21, Honda executive vice president Noriya Kaihara said on Friday.
Robert Bosch GmbH is receiving Nexperia chips from China, people familiar with the situation said.
A spokesman for Bosch — one of the world’s largest parts suppliers — declined to comment. As of yesterday morning, there were still production disruptions at several Bosch plants that produce automotive electronics.
However, the situation remains murky. German parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG is preparing for production disruptions including temporary furloughs as a precaution, a company spokesperson said.
“It is unclear to what extent and at what speed deliveries from China could resume,” the spokesperson said. “The situation remains very tense across the industry.”
In a sign of easing tensions, the Dutch government said in a statement late on Thursday that it expects Nexperia’s Chinese unit to resume chip supplies in the coming days, a noticeable softening of its previous stance.
INTERGRATION: Jensen Huang said that every Nvidia department and function of the company should be using AI, after reportedly saying staff were ‘insane’ not to Nvidia Corp is in a “unique” position in the market, despite facing intensifying competition, chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said during a brief visit to Taiwan yesterday amid a potentially growing challenge from Google for the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market. Huang told reporters that the AI market is “extremely large” and that while there is a lot of competition, Nvidia’s “condition is very strong and our position is very unique.” Huang, who arrived in Taipei on Thursday, was responding to questions about the possible threat posed by Google. According to a report in The Information on Tuesday, Meta has been in
Charming US President Donald Trump one week, angering China the next, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has had a busy start and is riding high in the polls, all on a few hours of sleep a night. However, the honeymoon might end soon for the Margaret Thatcher-admiring leader if a spat with China escalates further and she fails to keep inflation in check. “I believe Prime Minister Takaichi will surely do what she needs to do, so I trust her,” Kozue Otsuka, 50, told reporters at a festival this week for business owners seeking good fortune. While buying a lucky kumade rake featuring
INSULATED: The company said it is less exposed to global complications, as it has built a strong footprint worldwide, and has multiple sources of rare earths and raw minerals Merck Group yesterday said it would ramp up production next year at its new flagship facility in Kaohsiung’s Lujhu District (路竹) to satisfy growing demand for advanced semiconductor materials and specialty gases, and to address supply resilience issues amid mounting geopolitical risks. Merck made the remarks during a news conference before the inauguration of its 500 million euros (US$582.1 million) facility, which is also to supply other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, it said. Merck executive board deputy chair and electronics CEO Kai Beckmann told reporters the company adopted a “local-for-local” strategy about seven years ago to address the cycle time of
TECH TITANS: Amazon’s latest chip joins Google in competing for the 90 percent market share held by Nvidia, which claims it is ‘a generation ahead of the industry’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday launched its in-house-built Trainium3 artificial intelligence (AI) chip, marking a significant push to compete with Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market for AI computing power. The move intensifies competition in the AI chip market, where Nvidia dominates with an estimated 80 to 90 percent market share for products used in training large language models that power the likes of ChatGPT. Google last week caused tremors in the industry when it was reported that Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc would employ Google AI chips in data centers, signaling new competition for Nvidia. This followed the release last month of
RSS