Macronix to Phase Out ROM Production, Raising Questions for Switch Cartridges but Not Ending Them

A key chip supplier is changing direction

Taiwanese semiconductor maker Macronix International is gradually winding down its ROM production business, a move that has drawn attention from Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 owners. Chairman Miin Wu said at the company’s third-quarter earnings conference that Macronix was gradually phasing out ROM production. ROM chips have been used in Nintendo Switch game cards. Industry analyst David Gibson later said the company would develop no new ROM products and that the third quarter of 2026 would be the final period in which Macronix reported ROM sales separately. The development raises questions about the supply chain for physical Nintendo games, but it does not mean Nintendo is about to stop producing cartridges. Macronix is an important supplier, not the only company capable of supplying memory components for game cards.

ROM has become a much smaller part of the business

Macronix’s third-quarter figures show that ROM products accounted for 5% of company sales, down from 26% a year earlier. Sales in the ROM segment fell 39% year over year. The company is shifting limited manufacturing capacity toward other memory products, including NOR flash, NAND and embedded multimedia cards, or eMMC. Chairman Wu said capacity was limited and the company had to prioritize products with stronger demand and better growth prospects. The Taipei Times reported that Macronix expects near-term growth to come more from pricing and future capacity additions than from rapidly expanding production in the short term. The company is responding to a market in which demand for data-center and enterprise memory has become increasingly important.

Other suppliers mean cartridges will not disappear overnight

Macronix is not Nintendo’s only supplier of memory chips for physical game cards. Other companies, including Japan’s ROHM, also participate in the supply chain, and chips from other manufacturers have been identified in some Switch 2 cartridges. Analyst David Gibson has said Nintendo has other game-memory-card partners, meaning Macronix’s gradual withdrawal does not automatically end physical game production. The change could still make the supply chain more complicated. Nintendo and game publishers may have to rely more heavily on remaining suppliers, negotiate new production arrangements or absorb higher component costs. The impact will depend on how much capacity other manufacturers can provide and whether they can meet Nintendo’s technical and volume requirements.

Game-Key Cards could become more attractive

The Switch 2 already supports a hybrid format known as Game-Key Cards. These products look like physical game cards and come in retail packaging, but the card generally contains a download authorization rather than the complete game. Players must connect to the internet and download the software. Traditional physical cartridges, by contrast, store the game data on the card itself. If the supply of traditional ROM chips tightens or becomes more expensive, publishers may have a stronger incentive to use Game-Key Cards or digital-only releases. That could reduce manufacturing pressure while preserving a physical product on store shelves. However, Macronix’s decision does not establish that Nintendo has decided to expand Game-Key Cards, and no such change has been announced as a direct consequence of the supplier’s plans.

AI and data-center demand are reshaping capacity decisions

Macronix’s shift toward NOR, NAND and eMMC reflects a broader change in the memory market. Demand from data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure and enterprise storage has increased the value of certain memory products. Manufacturers with limited production capacity must decide which segments deserve the most investment. The decline of ROM to 5% of Macronix’s sales suggests that the business has become less important to the company’s overall product mix. Macronix is directing investment toward NAND and eMMC rather than expanding ROM production. The move is therefore a strategic reallocation of manufacturing resources, not a sudden shutdown of all existing cartridge deliveries.

Nintendo has not announced an end to physical games

There is currently no evidence that Nintendo plans to discontinue physical game cards because of Macronix’s decision. Nintendo has previously said it has no plan to abandon physical media, and the company has other suppliers. The issues to watch are whether other chipmakers can replace the capacity, whether cartridge costs rise and whether Nintendo discusses supply arrangements in its next financial update. For players, the immediate takeaway is that existing physical games and announced releases are not suddenly at risk of disappearing. The longer-term question is whether the cost and availability of traditional cartridges will push more publishers toward Game-Key Cards or digital distribution. Macronix’s gradual exit is a supply-chain change that could accelerate an existing shift, but it is not evidence that physical Nintendo games are ending.