# Nintendo chipmaker Macronix plans to end ROM production amid shrinking demand

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/nintendos-main-switch-cartridge-supplier-is-leaving-the-rom-business/
- Published: 2026-11-04T18:39:08+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T19:18:22+00:00
- Original publisher: Engadget
- Original article: https://www.engadget.com/2306886/nintendos-main-switch-cartridge-supplier-is-leaving-the-rom-business/
- Topics: Entertainment, Gaming

## Key points

- Macronix is ending ROM production.
- ROM sales fell 39 per cent in a year.
- Switch 2 cards use NAND, which is unaffected.

## Summary

Macronix, described as Nintendo’s main supplier of ROM chips for Switch game cards, is phasing out ROM production and plans to make no new ROM products. The shift matters to players who prefer physical games because it raises questions about the future supply of cartridges, though it does not mean Nintendo’s physical releases will stop immediately.

Macronix’s ROM business fell 39 per cent over the past year and now accounts for 5 per cent of its sales, down from 26 per cent a year earlier; the company is turning towards demand for NOR flash used in data centres. It is not Nintendo’s only cartridge supplier, and Switch 2 cards use NAND flash, which Macronix is not phasing out. Digital downloads already make up 61.5 per cent of Nintendo software sales, compared with about 85 per cent on PlayStation 5 and 96 per cent on Xbox.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.