Macronix, a main maker of Switch cartridge chips, is leaving ROM memory
Macronix has announced that it is exiting the ROM memory business, the chipmaker said in its latest earnings call. ROM chips are key parts of Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 game cartridges, and Macronix is Nintendo's main manufacturer of those physical cartridges, according to Nintendo Everything.
ROM, short for read-only memory, is a type of chip that stores data permanently. In a cartridge, it holds the game itself. That is why the chip matters to anyone who buys a game on a cartridge rather than downloading it.
Macronix plans to phase out its ROM products entirely by the end of the third quarter of its 2026 fiscal year, Eurogamer reports. ROM products made up 5% of the company's reported third-quarter sales, down from 26% a year earlier.
The company is moving its manufacturing capacity toward NOR flash and eMMC memory chips. NOR flash and eMMC are other memory types used in consumer electronics, from phones to tablets. Both are designed to store and run software in different ways than ROM does.
Nintendo also sources ROM parts from Rohm Co. and Oki Semiconductor, Eurogamer notes. That means Macronix is one of several suppliers for the company's cartridges, not the only one.
For now, the announced timeline is the end of the third fiscal quarter of 2026. Macronix has framed the move as a shift in where it puts its factories and staff, not a sudden stop to its wider memory work. The company will keep making NOR flash and eMMC chips as it reshapes its product line.
