Business · Companies · 17 hrs ago
Fujifilm plans to expand LTO tape production fivefold
Fujifilm plans to expand LTO tape production fivefold at a plant in Odawara, Japan.
The company says it will invest ¥10 billion in the expansion, although accounts differ on the timeline.
Growing AI and cloud services are creating more data that companies need to store.
LTO tape is used for long-term archives because it can hold large amounts of data at relatively low cost.
The tapes can also be stored offline, which can help protect archived data from cyberattacks, though retrieving it is slower than using some other storage.
Fujifilm plans to make more tenth-generation LTO tape, with native capacities of 30TB or 40TB per cartridge.
The expansion is intended to meet rising demand for storing growing volumes of data.
Fujifilm plans to increase its LTO tape production capacity fivefold.
The company says it will invest ¥10 billion in expanding its tape plant in Odawara, Japan.
Fujifilm links the investment to rising data-storage needs driven by generative AI and cloud services.
The Register reports the expansion will focus on tenth-generation LTO tapes, with native capacities of 30TB or 40TB.
Heise, citing Nikkei and unnamed sources, says the increased capacity is planned by the 2028 fiscal year.
- Who
- Fujifilm.
- What
- It plans to increase LTO tape production capacity fivefold.
- When
- The plan was reported on October 28 and 29, 2026. The expansion is planned over the next two years, with Heise reporting a target of the 2028 fiscal year.
- Where
- Fujifilm’s tape plant in Odawara, Japan.
- Why
- Fujifilm says the growth of generative AI and cloud services is increasing demand for data storage.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
LTO cartridge shipments amounted to 160.3 exabytes, down from the 2024 record of 176.5 exabytes, according to The Register.
Reports said Fujifilm plans to increase LTO tape production capacity fivefold.
Heise reported that Fujifilm plans to increase production capacity by this point.
- Planned capacity increase
- Fivefold
- Investment
- ¥10 billion
- Plant location
- Odawara, Japan
- Tape generation
- LTO tenth generation
- Native capacity
- 30TB or 40TB per cartridge
- Heise’s reported target
- Fiscal year 2028
3 sources
What people are saying
The rapid spread of generative AI and cloud services is driving exponential growth in the volume of data generated worldwide.
As a result, establishing environments in which the enormous amounts of data accumulated through AI training and inference as well as the digitalization of business activities can be stored and utilized securely and efficiently is becoming increasingly important in supporting the digital society.