Nexperia

Nexperia is a semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. It is a subsidiary of Wingtech Technology, a Shanghai-listed company partially owned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. It has front-end factories in Hamburg, Germany, and Greater Manchester, England. It is the former Standard Products business unit of NXP Semiconductors (previously Philips Semiconductors). The company's product range includes bipolar transistors, diodes, ESD protection, TVS diodes, MOSFETs, and logic devices.

History

Nexperia is a second-generation spin-off of Philips' semiconductor division, whose history dates back to the 1920s when Philips acquired vacuum tubes manufacturer Mullard, whose facility in Hazel Grove became today's Nexperia Manchester, and Valvo in Hamburg. In the early 1950s, Philips started with the production of semiconductors in Nijmegen and Hamburg, where the Nexperia wafer fab is located. In 1981, Philips opened a factory in Cabuyao, Philippines. The fab is owned and operated by Nexperia. In 1991, Philips founded ITEC, a manufacturer of semiconductor equipment. Today, ITEC is an independent subsidiary of Nexperia. Philips and Motorola established the Semiconductor Miniature Products factory in Seremban Malaysia in 1992 as a joint venture, which became part of Nexperia.

In 2006, Philips spun off its semiconductor division under the name NXP and sold an 80.1% stake to private equity investors. In August 2010, NXP completed its initial public offering and its shares were listed on the Nasdaq. On June 14, 2016, NXP Semiconductors announced an agreement to divest its Standard Products business to a consortium of Chinese financial investors consisting of Beijing Jianguang Asset Management Co., Ltd ("JAC Capital"), a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned investment company, and Wise Road Capital LTD ("Wise Road Capital"). Following the official transaction on February 6, 2017, Nexperia became an independent company, and the entire scope of the NXP Standard Products business, including its management team, and approximately 11,000 NXP employees were transferred from NXP to Nexperia.

On October 25, 2018, Nexperia was acquired by Wingtech Technology, a partially state-owned Chinese ODM for smartphone companies for $3.6 billion. Wingtech is partially owned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC).

In January 2023, Dutch public broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting reported that Nexperia chips ended up in Russian military kit despite international sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nexperia transceivers were discovered in a Russian Kh-101 missile, according to the Royal United Services Institute.

In March 2024, Nexperia's servers were affected by a ransomware attack in which intellectual property was stolen.

Philippines

Nexperia has been accused of labor violations at its facility in the Philippines. On December 17, 2024, four officials of the Nexperia Philippines Inc. Worker's Union, an affiliate of the Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines and the Kilusang Mayo Uno, were dismissed by the company amid an ongoing collective bargaining association. The officials were accused of obstructing entry and exit points to the factory. Trade union members reported layoffs and management interference in a strike vote earlier that year.

Acquisitions

In 2021, the company purchased the Inmos microprocessor factory in Newport, Wales. On 17 November 2022, the British government ordered Nexperia to divest 86% of its ownership interest in the Newport facility, citing national security reasons around the company's ownership. Nexperia subsequently engaged New York law firm, Akin Gump to act on their behalf in their application for a judicial review of the UK government's divestment decision. In November 2023, Nexperia agreed to sell the facility to Vishay Intertechnology for $177 million. In March 2024, the UK government approved the acquisition of the Newport wafer fab, as announced by Secretary of State Oliver Dowden.

In November 2022, Nexperia acquired the Delft-based manufacturer of power management integrated circuits, Nowi. Subsequently, the Dutch government announced that it would investigate Nexperia's acquisition of Nowi on national security grounds. In November 2023, the Dutch government approved Nexperia's acquisition of Nowi.

Products

Nexperia focuses on semiconductors with basic functions which are often called essential semiconductors due to them being needed in more complex chips. They are used in the automotive industry as well as other industrial, mobile and consumer products. Nexperia's products include 650V silicon carbide Schottky diodes, bipolar transistors as well as 650V GaN FETs, MOSFETs like the NextPower series, or the PMCB60XN, which at launch was the most energy efficient 30V MOSFET on the market. LED drivers are offered with a side-wettable flank since 2020 and since 2023 the company produces 600V IGBTs with low switching losses and conduction. Further products include ESD protection devices, Transient Voltage Suppressor Diodes, electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter as well as load switches. In July 2024 the company launched the NPS3102 family of e-Fuses, which, unlike traditional fuses, can be used multiple times. The B-series can attempt to reset itself after a fault, while the A-series requires a manual reset.

Nexperia also cooperates with other firms like Mitsubishi Electric or Kyocera AVX Components to develop products such as SiC power semiconductors or SiC rectifier modules. Following the acquisition of Nowi, Nexperia also offers energy harvesting PMICs designed to complement or replace batteries in low power applications such as wearables. The first energy harvesting chip released by Nexperia was the NEH2000BY in April 2023.

Locations

Nexperia is headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, with manufacturing and research and development facilities in Europe, the United States and Asia. It has front-end factories in Hamburg, Germany, Greater Manchester, England, and assembly and testing facilities in Guangdong, China, Seremban, Malaysia, and Cabuyao, Philippines.

Nexperia also has R&D facilities in:

* Nijmegen, Delft (the Netherlands)
* Hamburg, Munich (Germany)
* Stockport, (United Kingdom)
* Dallas (United States)
* Penang (Malaysia)
* Osaka (Japan)
* Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen (China)

Sponsorships

In May 2024, Nexperia became the main sponsor of the NEC Nijmegen association football club for the 2024/2025 season. According to De Gelderlander, the deal was signed to extend for at least three years.

Nexperia and other sponsors are supporting the TeamNL House initiative, located in the Parc de la Villete in Paris, which will allow Dutch fans to watch the 2024 Summer Paralympics live and honor participating athletes.

References

External links

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{{NXP Semiconductors

NXP Semiconductors
Philips
Semiconductor companies of the Netherlands
Government-owned companies of China
2018 mergers and acquisitions
Companies based in Gelderland
Corporate spin-offs
Dutch companies established in 2017
Organisations based in Nijmegen