Macronix, Nintendo's main ROM chip supplier for physical Switch game cartridges, announced in its third-quarter earnings report that it is ending production of those chips and gradually decoupling from the game industry. The company's ROM production has shrunk 39 percent over the last year and now represents just 5 percent of its business.
Macronix is redirecting its limited production capacity toward more lucrative chip types like NOR- and NAND-based memory and eMMCs. With production capacity capped at 25,000 12-inch wafers per month and new capacity taking over a year to come online, the company said less profitable ROM chips are consuming wafer space that generates more revenue elsewhere.
Nintendo will continue making physical game cartridges and has no plans to abandon them soon. But the company will need to rely on other suppliers like Rohm and Lapis Semiconductor for ROM chips, likely at higher costs. Those increased production costs could drive up prices for physical Switch cartridges. Nintendo has already started charging more for some physical games than their digital equivalents.
The impact may be offset by shifting consumer behavior. Digital software sales represented 61.5 percent of Nintendo's business in the second calendar quarter of 2026, up slightly from the prior year. If that trend continues, lower demand for physical cartridges could help balance the higher per-unit production costs.