Nintendo's Biggest Chip Manufacturer Officially Exits Business
News Source
β’Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:13:30 GMT
π° What Happened
Macronix, the Taiwanese company that makes most of Nintendo's game cartridge memory chips, is leaving the Switch business. Analyst David Gibson said there will be no new ROM products.
ROM chips fell to 5% of Macronix's third-quarter sales, down from 26% a year earlier. The chairman said limited capacity is going to other memory types instead.
Gibson expects physical Switch cards to continue for a while, because Macronix is not Nintendo's only supplier.
π The Backstory
Nintendo has used cartridges since the NES, and the Switch brought them back after the disc-based Wii and Wii U. Cartridges are durable but cost more to make than discs.
Sony recently said it will stop making discs for its games from 2028, adding to fears that physical media is ending. Digital sales already make up most of the market.
Nintendo's own figures show 61.5% of its software sales were digital between April and June, up 2.2% on last year, and that share keeps rising.
π― Why It Matters
Physical games can be resold, lent and kept after stores close. If cartridges fade, players lose those options and pay whatever digital stores charge.
Macronix, the Taiwanese company that makes most of Nintendo's game cartridge memory chips, is leaving the Switch business. Analyst David Gibson said there will be no new ROM products.
ROM chips fell to 5% of Macronix's third-quarter sales, down from 26% a year earlier. The chairman said limited capacity is going to other memory types instead.
Gibson expects physical Switch cards to continue for a while, because Macronix is not Nintendo's only supplier.
Nintendo has used cartridges since the NES, and the Switch brought them back after the disc-based Wii and Wii U. Cartridges are durable but cost more to make than discs.
Sony recently said it will stop making discs for its games from 2028, adding to fears that physical media is ending. Digital sales already make up most of the market.
Nintendo's own figures show 61.5% of its software sales were digital between April and June, up 2.2% on last year, and that share keeps rising.
Physical games can be resold, lent and kept after stores close. If cartridges fade, players lose those options and pay whatever digital stores charge.