The original Nintendo Switch is one of the best-selling consoles of all time, and now the Japanese company is trying to recreate that success with the Nintendo Switch 2. But if it’s hoping to match the massive 152 million units sold over the Switch’s lifespan, it needs chips, lots of them. According to a report from Bloomberg, Samsung has dethroned TSMC and will handle Nintendo’s chip manufacturing needs for the handheld console going forward.
A chip on Samsung’s shoulder
It’s an easy decision for Samsung, which is doing its best to be a real competitor to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., according to people familiar with the matter. Securing a manufacturing deal to build one of the most important components of what promises to be one of the best-selling consoles of the next decade could help position it as a real alternative to TSMC, which it has struggled against for years.
For Nintendo, it’s an equally routine decision. The two entities already have a cordial working relationship, seeing as Samsung has supplied Nintendo with NAND flash memory and OLED displays for years. Leaving Nvidia’s custom 8nm chips in the capable hands of Samsung’s manufacturing department means it won’t have to compete with other companies when dealing with TSMC. Samsung, free of these burdens, reportedly hopes to have at least 20 million chips ready by March 2026 – a figure that not even Nintendo can scoff at.
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It surpasses Nintendo’s somewhat tame projections for the Switch 2. The company, likely due to the uncertainty swirling around Donald Trump’s global tariffs, only expects to sell a meagre 15 million units during its first year, more than a million fewer than industry analysts expect. Having a five-million-strong batch of consoles on hand isn’t the issue it appears to be, however, particularly where Nintendo’s consoles are concerned.
The partnership won’t end there. Aside from continuing to pump out custom Switch 2 chips beyond the initial 20 million projection, Samsung has pushed Nintendo to use its OLED tech by the time the company is ready for a mid-gen refresh, which will likely make use of the tech, just like the Nintendo Switch OLED did. That, however, is likely still a couple of years away, particularly if Nintendo is mimicking the original Switch’s lifespan.
