European executives at Nexperia have appeared in an Amsterdam court against its Chinese owner Wingtech Technology in a dispute over control that has disrupted automotive chip supply, reported Reuters.
The clash intensified on 30 September, when the Dutch government temporarily took control of the semiconductor group, citing concerns that operations and intellectual property were being shifted to China.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The intervention was later withdrawn in an effort to calm relations with Beijing.
Nexperia produces silicon wafers at European sites before sending them to China for cutting and packaging.
On 7 October, the Amsterdam Enterprise Court suspended Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng from his role as CEO and removed Wingtech’s authority over Nexperia’s shares, citing “well-founded reasons to doubt” whether the company was being properly managed.
At the latest hearing, the first to be held in public, judges heard arguments on whether to launch a full investigation into alleged mismanagement raised by senior European executives or to overturn the earlier court orders.
A ruling will be delivered at a later date.
In previous decisions, judges pointed to a potential conflict of interest, noting that Xuezheng owns a Shanghai factory supplying wafers to Nexperia.
They also said Xuezheng and Wingtech had not implemented governance changes intended to prevent the group from being placed on a US blacklist.
Wingtech is expected to argue that Xuezheng’s strategy was suitable for a subsidiary of a Chinese group with major sales, customers and expansion prospects in China, the world’s largest car market.
Xuezheng is not expected to attend the hearing, with his lawyers responding on his behalf.
The Dutch state is expected to back Nexperia’s European management.
Governments in the US, the Netherlands and China imposed, and later lifted, measures affecting Nexperia during 2025, citing geopolitical and strategic risks.
The company reported a profit of $331m on sales of $2.06bn in 2024 and has begun splitting into two smaller businesses as customers look for alternative chip suppliers.
Nexperia halted wafer shipments to China in October, citing non-payment, and plans to invest $300m to expand packaging capacity in Malaysia to serve customers outside China.
