According to a recent report by Reuters, after Dutch parent company Nexperia unilaterally cut off wafer supplies to its Chinese subsidiary for nearly two months, Nexperia China, a subsidiary of Wentai Technology, has resorted to a "new move" by partnering with multiple local wafer fabs to lock in all silicon wafer production capacity required for insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) chips by 2026.

At the end of September this year, under the pressure of the "50% penetration rule" in the United States, the Dutch government implemented a global operational freeze on Anshi Semiconductor, controlled by Chinese private enterprise Wentai Technology, on vague "national security" grounds.

Despite holding nearly 100% equity of Anshi through legal mergers and acquisitions, the Dutch authorities still instructed Anshi Netherlands to stop supplying key wafers to its Dongguan factory in China on October 26th.

As a leading global supplier of discrete devices and power chips, Anshi Semiconductor holds 9.4% of the global market share and up to 40% of the European automotive chip market.

The company's core products, such as logic devices, transistors, diodes, and IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) modules, are widely used in electric vehicles, industrial motors, and energy systems. Once the supply is interrupted, not only Chinese car companies will be impacted, but European companies such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Honda will also face the risk of production line shutdowns. Honda recently announced the temporary shutdown of some factories due to chip shortages, confirming the global spread of the crisis.

On December 19th, Reuters disclosed a letter from Anshi China to distributors stating that the company has finalized IGBT wafer supply with local suppliers such as Dingtai Jiangxin Technology, Shanghai GAT Semiconductor, and Xinlian Integration. Among them, Dingtai Jiangxin will provide 12 inch automotive grade wafers, and its Shanghai base currently has a monthly production capacity of 30000 wafers, with a planned total production capacity of up to 100000 wafers per month.

As the core switching device of electric vehicle electronic control system, IGBT is the "throat" of the new energy vehicle industry chain. As the world's largest electric vehicle market, China's demand for automotive grade IGBT has surged. If Anshi China can rely on local wafers to achieve stable mass production, it can not only stabilize existing customers, but also seize future growth opportunities.

However, the crisis is far from over. Although the Dutch side announced the "suspension" of the administrative order in November, it has not been revoked, and the ruling of the Amsterdam court to strip Wentai of control is still valid.

Anse Holland also claimed to the media that it has "no communication" with its Chinese subsidiary, but at the same time, it has taken measures such as deleting employee emails, refusing to pay more than 1 billion yuan in service fees, slandering product quality, and blocking supplier cooperation, which has been criticized by the Chinese side as "malicious destruction of business".

At present, Wentai Technology has appealed to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, but Reuters pointed out that the ruling is unlikely to be made within this year, and the intention of the "delaying tactic" is obvious.

In this context, the localization substitution of Anshi China is not only an emergency measure, but also a strategic transformation. Data shows that China's patent share in the field of power semiconductors has jumped from 15% in 2010 to 38% in 2023, surpassing Europe (down to 30%). The accumulation of technology and the layout of production capacity make the local supply chain feasible. This shift towards companies such as Dingtai Semiconductor Manufacturing is a microcosm of the acceleration of China's semiconductor localization process.

About The Author

This is reported by Top Components, a leading supplier of electronic components in the semiconductor industry

They are committed to providing customers around the world with the most necessary, outdated, licensed, and hard-to-find parts.

Media Relations

Name: John Chen

Email: salesdept@topcomponents.ru