In Macronix’s (旺宏) Q4 results conference, President Lu confirmed what Nintendo tech watchers had pieced together for sometime—Switch “ROM” is essentially MLC NAND plus a controller chip. The abysmal ROM revenues (image below), however, suggest that they hadn’t volume-produced any Switch 2 Game Cards yet.
In the Q&A session, Lu made two somewhat contradictory remarks:
- Macronix is a certified Switch 2 supplier
- Their ROM controller is “in the midst of obtaining certification”
While both can be true, the net result still means no Switch 2 Game Cards from the company as of December 2025. Is Rohm (ローム) the maker of rumored smaller cards of 16GB and 32GB?
Notes:
- I think that “the final year of Switch 1” text in the slide is not to be taken literally.
- MLC NAND is more durable than TLC and QLC, hence a sensible choice for a “ROM” product. The lower density, however, contributes to its higher unit cost than the more common TLC and QLC memory. This may be one reason behind the high prices of Game Cards.
[Originally posted on 2026-01-28 Pacific Time]
