Macronix phases out ROM chips, squeezing Nintendo's Switch cartridge supply

A supplier steps back from ROM

Taiwan's Macronix, a longtime maker of memory chips for Nintendo game cartridges, is gradually phasing out ROM production and does not plan to launch new ROM products. Its third-quarter 2026 results were the last in which the company reports ROM revenue as a separate category. Limited production capacity is the reason, and the company is shifting that output to NOR and NAND memory and eMMC chips, where demand is now much higher. Demand for NOR memory used in data centers is growing quickly, and the company says customers are asking for more of it.

On the company's earnings call, chairman and CEO Miin Wu described that demand in these words.

“Demand for NOR used in data centers is very robust. Customers are chasing us for more capacity, demanding that we deliver more NOR flash solutions for data centers.”

The numbers behind the shift

ROM revenue in the third quarter of 2026 fell 39 percent from a year earlier, while NOR revenue rose 158 percent and NAND revenue jumped 768 percent. ROM now makes up 5 percent of Macronix's sales, down from 26 percent a year before. The company posted a net profit of $337 million for the quarter. Its production capacity is 25,000 12-inch wafers a month, and $1.2 billion in planned new capacity will take a year or more to come online.

ROM-39%

NOR158%

NAND768%

ROM

-39 %

NOR

158 %

NAND

768 %

Data from the article text

Nintendo's supply chain

Macronix has supplied Nintendo since 1989, when the two companies signed their first chip agreement for console semiconductors. The partnership grew around 2000 and 2001 with deals for GameCube and Game Boy Advance chips and the leasing of production equipment. Over the years Macronix also supplied Mask ROM chips for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and the first generation of Nintendo Switch. Macronix is not the only maker of Nintendo cartridge chips, but Nintendo already relies on Rohm and Lapis Semiconductor for its remaining ROM supply, which could make cartridges more expensive to produce. Analyst David Gibson of MST Financial considers it likely that physical editions will keep selling in the coming years while digital-only releases grow.

Physical media and digital sales

In October 2026 Nintendo said it had no plans to give up game cartridges in the near future, a stance that contrasts with Sony's decision to stop producing discs starting in January 2028. Digital software made up 61.5 percent of Nintendo's software sales in the second quarter of 2026, up slightly from the year before. Nintendo put physical titles at 38.5 percent of its game sales in August 2026. One report puts digital downloads at around 85 percent of software sales on PS5 and 96 percent on Xbox platforms.

Open questions for Switch 2

Reports differ on whether Switch 2 cartridges are affected. One report says Switch 2 carts use NAND flash, which Macronix is not phasing out, while another report cites ROHM chips in those cartridges and says Macronix's role in them is not confirmed.