China Demands Netherlands Reverse Nexperia Chip Moves as Global Tech Tensions Explode
Geopolitical sparks are flying in the semiconductor sector. China has issued a direct demand to the Netherlands, calling for a reversal of recent moves involving chipmaker Nexperia. It's the latest flashpoint in a global struggle for technological supremacy that's redrawing supply chains and corporate alliances overnight.
The Core Conflict
This isn't just about one company. It's a proxy war for control over the foundational technology powering everything from smartphones to national defense systems. When a government starts dictating who can own what in the chip space, every boardroom from Silicon Valley to Shenzhen takes notice. The stakes? Only the future of the digital economy.
Why This Hurts
Forget smooth globalization. These frictions create choke points, delays, and massive uncertainty. That uncertainty gets priced into every device and data center down the line. It's a tax on innovation, paid for by slower product cycles and higher costs that eventually land on consumers and businesses. Some hedge fund manager is probably shorting the entire sector based on this headline alone—proving finance can be cynical even when the world's tech infrastructure hangs in the balance.
The New Reality
The era of seamless global tech collaboration is over. We've entered a period of tech tribalism, where semiconductors are treated as strategic assets rather than free-market commodities. Every move is now a geopolitical calculation. The result? A fragmented, less efficient, and more expensive tech landscape for everyone. Buckle up.
China demands the Netherlands correct the Nexperia takeover
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued a sharp response after Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Vincent Karremans defended his government’s decision to seize control of Nexperia. A ministry spokesperson said China has told the Netherlands multiple times that improper government interference in Nexperia’s business has damaged the worldwide semiconductor supply chain, placing complete blame on Dutch authorities.
According to the ministry, the Netherlands shows no concern and keeps pushing ahead with its approach, displaying zero sense of duty toward protecting the global semiconductor supply chain while taking no real steps to fix the problem.
Last September, the Netherlands took over Nexperia, a company operating in the country but owned by the Chinese firm Wingtech. Dutch officials said they acted to stop the founder from transferring company know-how and manufacturing operations to China. At the same time it criticizes Dutch actions, Beijing has rolled out new domestic requirements forcing semiconductor factories in China to buy at least half their equipment from local suppliers.
The Nexperia dispute comes as China ramps up efforts to build its own chip manufacturing capabilities, showing a clear plan to lock down vital technology both inside the country and beyond its borders.
Chinese chipmaker announces $4.22 billion public offering
On Tuesday, ChangXin Memory Technologies Corp, China’s top producer of DRAM chips, announced plans to collect 29.5 billion yuan, equal to $4.22 billion, by selling 10.6 billion shares to the public in Shanghai.
The company, which challenged South Korean and American competitors last month by introducing its newest DDR5 DRAM chips, plans to spend the money from the stock sale on improving factory lines and advancing its technical capabilities, according to documents filed Tuesday.
Part of the funds will go toward developing better versions of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, the company added.
The government helped establish ChangXin Memory Technologies in 2016 as part of China’s push to gain ground in the worldwide DRAM market. Right now, South Korean companies Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, along with American firm Micron Technology, run that market.
After nine rounds of investment that brought in money from Alibaba and Xiaomi, the company has created four different generations of DRAM technology.
Company holds small share of the global market
ChangXin Memory Technologies operates three factories that produce 12-inch DRAM wafers. Two are located in Beijing, while the main headquarters facility sits in Hefei, a city in Anhui province in eastern China.
The company held 4% of worldwide DRAM sales during the second quarter of this year. Meanwhile, Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung together controlled more than 90% of the market, based on numbers from research company Omdia included in the filing.
The chipmaker is putting major resources into high-bandwidth memory, called HBM, which is a special type of DRAM needed for advanced computer processors like the graphics chips Nvidia makes for artificial intelligence programs.
The company wants to start making HBM products by the end of 2026 at a new packaging plant it’s constructing in Shanghai, China’s business center.
ChangXin Memory Technologies expects sales to jump as much as 140% compared to last year in 2025, pushed up by higher memory prices and increased sales since July.
The company thinks it might start making money as soon as 2026, depending on how many wafers it ships and their prices. It lost 8.32 billion yuan in 2022, 16.3 billion yuan in 2023, and 7.1 billion yuan in 2024.
During the first six months of this year, the company reported a 2.3 billion yuan loss, according to the filing.
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