BEIJING, March 6 (Reuters) – Dutch chipmaker Nexperia’s Chinese subsidiary said on Friday most of its operations had resumed after significant disruptions caused by the disabling of office accounts for all employees in China by the Dutch headquarters, which contested the claims.
The accounts were deactivated on the evening of March 3, hindering access to company software, according to a statement from Nexperia China posted on its WeChat account.
The disruption affected certain production processes, including the “SAP order-to-production process for customer-supplied wafers,” and prompted the company to implement an emergency response plan.
“Currently, most business operations have resumed, ensuring basic production operations are maintained. We are making every effort to minimise potential impacts on future production and delivery,” the Chinese unit said in the statement.
However, Nexperia’s headquarters in the Netherlands contested the Chinese subsidiary’s claims. The two have been at loggerheads for several years amid trade tensions between Europe and China.
“The suggestion that ATGD is unable to supply finished products due to Nexperia managing its IT environment in line with company policy and applicable regulations is factually incorrect and misleading,” the company said in its own statement.
ATGD refers to Nexperia’s assembly and testing facility located in Guangdong, China.
Netherlands-based Nexperia, owned by China’s Wingtech Technology Co Ltd, has been embroiled in geopolitical tensions following Dutch state intervention in 2022 that imposed a European management team.
The move disrupted global automotive chip supplies and led Nexperia’s Chinese unit to later declare independence from its European management.
(Reporting by Ethan Wang and Colleen Howe, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Andrei Khalip and Kate Mayberry)
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