Nintendo's biggest ROM chip supplier is bowing out of the business
Summary
Macronix, Nintendo’s main ROM chip supplier for physical game cartridges, says its ROM production has reached its end and it will gradually leave the game industry. Nintendo says it does not plan to stop making cartridges, but relying on other suppliers could raise production costs and affect physical game prices.Key Facts
- Macronix said in its third-quarter earnings report that it would end ROM production and gradually decouple from the game industry.
- Analyst David Gibson identifies Macronix as Nintendo’s main memory chip maker for physical cartridges.
- Macronix’s ROM production fell 39 percent in the past year and accounts for 5 percent of its business.
- Macronix is shifting capacity toward more profitable NOR- and NAND-based memory and eMMC chips.
- Macronix produces 25,000 12-inch wafers per month, and planned capacity expansion could take a year or more to start.
- Nintendo said last month that it has no near-term plans to stop making game cartridges.
- Nintendo may turn to suppliers including Rohm and Lapis Semiconductor for remaining ROM chips, potentially increasing cartridge costs.
- Digital software made up 61.5 percent of Nintendo’s business in the second calendar quarter of 2026, slightly more than a year earlier.
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