Nintendo is reportedly using Samsung to build the main Switch 2 chips

Nintendo hired Samsung to build the main chips for the Switch 2, including an 8-nanometer processor custom designed by NVIDIA, Bloomberg reported. That would mark a move by Nintendo away from TSMC, which manufactured the chipset for the original 2017 Switch. Nintendo had no comment, saying it doesn't disclose its suppliers. Samsung and NVIDIA also declined to discuss the matter.

Samsung has previously supplied Nintendo with flash memory and displays, but building the Switch 2's processor would be a rare win for the company's contract chip division. Samsung can reportedly build enough chips to allow Nintendo to ship 20 million or more Switch 2s by March of 2026. 

NVIDIA's new chipset was reportedly optimized for Samsung's, rather than TSMC's manufacturing process. Using Samsung also means that Nintendo won't be competing with Apple and others for TSMC's resources. During Nintendo's latest earnings call, President Shuntaro Furukawa's said that the company didn't expect any component shortages with its new console — an issue that plagued the original Switch. 

Nintendo said in the same earnings report that it was caught by surprise with 2.2 million applications for Switch 2 pre-orders in Japan alone. Despite that, the company projected sales of 15 million Switch 2 units in its first year on sale to March 2026, fewer than analyst predictions of 16.8 million — likely due to the impact of Trump's tariffs. 

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