With demands reaching tens of thousands and orders flying everywhere, just how hot are Nexperia chips right now?

01  Nexperia Frenzy: Tens of Thousands, Even Hundreds of Thousands of Chip Units Sought After Everywhere

Since last Friday (October 10th), after rumors spread in the market that "some or all Nexperia chips originating from China are prohibited from being exported", the spot chip market has become bustling. Some Nexperia chips have gradually seen phenomena such as panic buying, scramble for goods, and suspended quotations. (For the timeline of the Nexperia incident, please refer to the "Recommended Reading" at the end of the article; details will not be repeated here.)

Against this backdrop, two pieces of news further fueled the already booming market: the Dutch government's freezing of Nexperia's assets on October 12th and Nexperia's statement on October 14th that China has banned the export of its products manufactured in China.

On October 12th, Wingtech Technology issued an announcement stating that the Dutch government has required the freezing of its subsidiary Nexperia, prohibiting adjustments to assets, intellectual property rights, etc., for a period of one year.

On October 14th, Nexperia Semiconductors released a statement on its official website, saying that China's Ministry of Commerce issued an export control announcement on the 4th of this month, banning Nexperia Semiconductors China and its subcontractors from exporting specific finished components and subassemblies produced in China. This also confirmed that the previous rumors were true.

The most obvious change in the market is the increase in demand for Nexperia chips and the number of people buying and selling them.

In recent days, in almost all visible chip industry groups, there have been demands for Nexperia chips in quantities of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of units. Some factory inventory lists have also been circulated in various groups for product sales, and some people who did not previously trade Nexperia chips have also started to participate.

An agent of Nexperia stated that they have stocked up a large quantity of goods for customers. Since the first day back from the National Day holiday, sales and procurement teams have been helping customers scramble for goods. Order lead times have basically been delayed—originally 12 weeks, they now generally take 20 weeks, subject to final delivery. Other agents also mentioned that they have been extremely busy since Tuesday.

A chip trader specializing in Nexperia chips said, "Many people have come to inquire these days, including both traders and end customers, with more inquiries from traders." Another trader commented, "There are a lot of inquiries, half from traders and half from end customers, but relatively few quotes. Most of us are waiting to see how the market goes and also worried about being unable to deliver the goods."

In addition to strong domestic demand, there is also considerable foreign trade demand. A salesperson specializing in foreign trade told us that demand is high, especially from European automotive customers. However, due to the export ban, they have been unable to process these orders.

Meanwhile, many chip traders noted that while there has been a lot of shipment activity recently, there are not many quotes being offered. Generally, a clear TP (Target Price) is required before the other party will provide a quote.

In terms of prices, all Nexperia chip prices have increased, with some doubling, tripling, or even more. One trader said, "For a material used by our customer, we quoted 0.25 yuan (inclusive of tax) to the customer, but the market price has now reached 1 yuan (exclusive of tax)." Another trader stated, "A chip we sold for 0.4 yuan last week now has a market price of 0.8 yuan."

Relevant personnel stated that although quotes are very high, actual transactions may not follow suit, and the specific situation shall be subject to the final transaction results.

In terms of transactions, some chip traders indicated that the final transaction volume has not been particularly high. Mainly due to market volatility and price fluctuations, many customers are basically either building up safety stock while waiting and seeing, or simply adopting a wait-and-see attitude. Meanwhile, we also observed that on Monday and Tuesday this week, there were rumors of a surge in orders on e-commerce platforms in the chip distribution industry.

What possible impacts will this incident have on Nexperia's production capacity and shipments?

Nexperia's predecessor was the Standard Products division of NXP Semiconductors. Currently headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, this location also serves as its most important R&D and design center.

According to Nexperia's official website, Germany and the United Kingdom are its manufacturing hubs.

The wafer fab located in Hamburg, Germany, was established in 1953 and now produces over 35,000 wafers per month (in 8-inch equivalent). This output translates to 70 billion semiconductors annually, making it the world's largest wafer fab for small-signal and diode discrete devices.

Nexperia's wafer fab in Manchester, UK, specializes in the production of 6-inch TrenchMOS and serves as its power MOSFET manufacturing base. Currently, this fab produces 24,000 wafers per month (in 8-inch equivalent).

There are three assembly and testing facilities:

The facility located in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, covers an area of over 80,000 square meters, making it the largest small-signal component plant with an annual output exceeding 50 billion units.

The facility in Seremban, Malaysia, focuses primarily on multi-pin and highly diversified packaging, handling an additional 20 billion small-signal and diode devices annually.

The facility in Cabuyao, the Philippines, can process approximately 1 billion products per year.

In addition, in 2020, Dingtai Microelectronics, an affiliated company of Wingtech Technology, invested in a wafer fab in Shanghai.

Both Dingtai Microelectronics and Wingtech Technology are controlled by Wentianxia Technology Group. With a total investment exceeding 12 billion yuan, this project is a 12-inch automotive-grade power semiconductor wafer fab. The planned monthly production capacity is 100,000 wafers, including 45,000 wafers per month in Phase I, 35,000 wafers per month in Phase II, and 20,000 wafers per month in Phase III.

This global semiconductor industrial chain supports Nexperia in shipping 110 billion products to customers worldwide each year, which are applied in more than 25,000 customer end terminals.

After the incident, Yang Mu, Chairman of Wingtech Technology, stated: "From a direct management perspective, the operations in Dongguan are managed by the Dutch entity;

 however, the primary principle is to maximize the overall interests of the listed company's subsidiaries and branches." He also disclosed that 80% of Nexperia's packaging capacity is located in mainland China, and its revenue in the Chinese market accounts for approximately 48%, adding that this segment of the business remains stable. "The overall business will prioritize stabilizing assets and operations in China while expanding overseas business."

Yang Mu further noted: "The Lingang Wafer Fab has no direct connection with this incident, as it is a facility outside the listed company's system. The impact on relevant businesses is still under specific assessment."

02 Anshi's "backups"

     Are getting busy.

While chip distributors are bustling with activity, end customers have also started to feel restless. In recent days, there has been a noticeable increase in customers inquiring about alternatives to Nexperia.

What are Nexperia's main products? Which domestic brands have the opportunity to replace them, and how difficult is the substitution?

According to the annual report of its parent company Wingtech Technology, Nexperia Semiconductors is a world-leading IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturer) leader in discrete and power chips, and one of the top global automotive semiconductor companies, with nearly 16,000 product part numbers.

In 2024, the revenue of Wingtech's semiconductor business (i.e., Nexperia's business) from the automotive, mobile and wearable devices, industrial and power, computer equipment, and consumer sectors accounted for 62.03%, 7.99%, 20.60%, 5.36%, and 3.74% respectively. 90% of Nexperia's products meet automotive-grade standards.

In terms of products, official website documents show the main product categories: Bipolar Transistors, Diodes, ESD Protection, TVS, Signal Conditioning, MOSFETs, GaN FETs, Analog and Logic ICs, and IGBTs.

                                                                                                    Source: Anshi official website

Nexperia maintains a global leading position in various segmented fields: it ranks first in the world in terms of shipment volume of small-signal diodes and transistors, second globally in logic ICs, first in ESD protection devices, first in small-signal MOSFETs, and second in automotive-grade Power MOS.

In 2024, the three major product categories—transistors (including protective devices such as ESD/TVS), MOSFET power transistors, and analog and logic ICs—accounted for 45.49%, 38.43%, and 16.02% of the revenue respectively, with protective devices accounting for 11.55% of the total revenue.

It can be seen that Nexperia's main products are discrete devices. As one of the core components for realizing functions such as current control, voltage control, circuit protection, and signal modulation, discrete devices mainly include diodes, triodes, thyristors, MOSFETs and other products.

Currently, the global market for discrete devices is predominantly led by manufacturers from Europe, the United States, and Japan. Apart from Nexperia, key players include Infineon, onsemi, STMicroelectronics, Mitsubishi Electric (Vincotech), Vishay, Toshiba, Fuji Electric, Renesas, and Diodes. According to the "2025 China Semiconductor Discrete Device Industry Market Prospect and Forecast Research Report" by Zhongshang Industrial Research Institute, China still relies on imports for approximately 40% of its high-end IGBT and MOSFET demands.

Domestic Chinese manufacturers primarily include China Resources Microelectronics, Silan Microelectronics, Yangjie Technology, Star Semiconductor, Jiejie Microelectronics, and HuaWei Electronics. Although the overall market concentration remains relatively low, these companies have achieved large-scale supply in areas such as mid-to-low voltage MOSFETs and diodes. Driven by policy support, they are also accelerating their penetration into the high-end market.

From the perspective of more segmented power devices, Nexperia's ranking among global power discrete device companies has been on the rise year by year, climbing steadily from 11th place worldwide in 2019 to 3rd place globally. It has also maintained the top position among Chinese power discrete device companies for many consecutive years (according to the "China Power Discrete Device Market Annual Report" by ICwise).

Globally, according to Infineon's Q2 FY2025 financial report, the market share of global power semiconductors in 2024 is as follows: Infineon (17.7%), onsemi (8.7%), ST (7.0%), Mitsubishi (4.7%), Fuji (3.9%), Slanmicro (3.3%), BYD (3.1%), Vishay (2.7%), Toshiba (2.7%), and Nexperia (2.6%).

In summary, Nexperia's main products are discrete devices, with a focus on automotive applications. In 2024, 56.1% ($1.133 billion) of Nexperia's product revenue came from distribution, 39.7% from OEM customers, and 4.3% from EMS customers. Some market traders have indicated that there are relatively few authorized distributors for Nexperia in the market. Large orders are primarily handled by major agents and large traders, with limited circulation in the spot chip market.

According to relevant domestic brand agents, Nexperia components in the spot market are mainly used in industrial, medical, and major home appliance sectors.

In recent days, multiple customers have inquired about alternatives to Nexperia. Even some industrial and medical clients who were previously reluctant to consider substitutions have now begun seeking alternatives. However, most are still in the communication and verification stage for potential replacement solutions.

The agent mentioned that most diodes and transistors can be substituted, such as those from established suppliers like Changjing, Yinhe, Yangjie, Jiejie Micro, and Leshan. For popular 74-series logic devices, UTC (Unisonic) also offers alternatives.

Substituting MOSFETs is slightly more challenging than replacing diodes and transistors. While it doesn't involve programming, some circuit adjustments—such as modifying resistors and capacitors—may be necessary, as replacements may not always be fully pin-to-pin compatible. A representative from a power device manufacturer noted that key parameters for MOSFETs include voltage tolerance, current, internal resistance, EAS, and junction capacitance. According to a chip distributor, potential alternatives to Nexperia's MOSFETs primarily include brands like Waviate, NCE Power, and China Resources Microelectronics.

Another distributor mentioned that while there have been some inquiries about alternative brands in recent days, the number remains limited, with most questions still focused on Nexperia.

In addition, Taiwanese media reported that Pan Jit International, due to its highly overlapping product lines with Nexperia, has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the recent Nexperia incident. Pan Jit revealed that it is currently in talks with multiple customers regarding order transfers. Analysts project that non-automotive products will be the first to see an impact, with revenue growth potentially materializing as early as this quarter, followed by automotive-related components in the first quarter of next year.

Overall, while most end customers are still in the consultation phase, a clear willingness to seek alternatives is emerging. In response, chip distributors have already become more active, positioning themselves to capitalize on upcoming opportunities.

 03 Concluding Remarks

Over the past week, Nexperia has been gaining increasing momentum in the chip market. Prices of many popular part numbers have doubled, and a surge of purchase and

shipment messages has emerged in industry groups. Meanwhile, domestic alternative brands have been included in the discussion list of a growing number of customers. 

What will the market trend be next? Can Nexperia's supply stabilize, and can alternative brands truly step up to fill the gap? It remains to be seen in the follow-up.