China's Underground Market for Chips Draws Desperate Automakers
A worldwide shortage has spawned a gray market for semiconductors, where chips that may be out-of-date or stolen can sell for vastly inflated prices.
A wall display at the Huaqiangbei Museum in Shenzhen, China’s tech hub.
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In her two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Chinese tech hub Shenzhen, Wang woke to a deluge of messages. One read: “SPC5744PFK1AMLQ9, 300 pc, 21+. Any need?”
Within minutes, the 32-year-old was at her computer in the living room, hurriedly clearing away empty packets of instant noodles and pulling up a spreadsheet. The code referred to a chip produced by NXP Semiconductors Inc. and used in a car’s microcontroller unit. The sender of the message was trying to find a taker for the 300, made no earlier than 2021, that had come into his possession.