By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen will meet chipmaker Nexperia on Friday, she said on X, amid concerns about a deepening supply squeeze linked to the Dutch company.
“Tomorrow meeting @Nexperia. Important lessons being drawn for our #ChipsAct 2.0 foreseen beginning of 2026,” Virkkunen said on X.
She had hosted virtual meetings with the CEOs of Infineon, STMicroelectronics, NXP and Acea earlier on Thursday.
Nexperia, owned by Chinese company Wingtech, has been in the spotlight after the Dutch government earlier this month took control of the company.
Sources say this was prompted by worries that its former CEO was dismantling the company’s European operations and moving production to China.
Beijing subsequently responded by blocking Nexperia products from leaving China, prompting the Netherlands-based company to tell carmakers it could no longer guarantee supplies. That triggered nervousness in other sectors as well.
Nexperia makes basic power control chips such as transistors and diodes. These cost only a few cents to buy, but are needed in almost every device that uses electricity and are ubiquitous in cars to connect the battery to motors, for lights and braking systems.
Europe adopted the 43 billion euro ($50.15 billion) EU Chips Act in 2023, aimed at doubling the bloc’s share of global chip output to 20% by 2030 and reducing its reliance on foreign chipmakers.
The European Commission will review this legislation next year, and has tentatively called it Chips Act 2.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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