Macronix, a Taiwanese chipmaker that has supplied ROM chips for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 game cartridges, said in its third‑quarter earnings report that it will stop producing those chips and begin “gradually decoupling from the game industry.” The move follows a 39 % drop in ROM production over the past year, leaving the line to account for just 5 % of the company’s overall business.
The decision comes amid a broader shortage of memory and storage components that has been driven by the AI industry’s demand for RAM, SSDs and GPUs. Those shortages are now spilling over into the supply of ROM chips, which are essential for physical game cartridges.
Macronix explained that its 25,000 12‑inch wafer capacity is increasingly being used for more profitable products such as NOR‑ and NAND‑based memory and eMMCs. The company has earmarked $1.2 billion for new capacity, but the build‑out will take a year or more to become operational.
Analyst David Gibson notes that Nintendo relies on Macronix as its “main memory chip maker” for physical game cartridges, suggesting that the supplier’s exit could affect the availability of ROM chips for the console’s next generation.
Macronix’s announcement was reported by Taiwanese news site BigGo Finance, which highlighted the shift in the company’s production priorities as a response to the changing market dynamics.
<small>Source: Ars Technica — read the original story there.</small>
