The LTO Program, comprised of HPE, IBM, and Quantum Corporations, recently reported an increase in LTO magnetic tape shipments up to the year 2022. This open tape format was developed to cater to the escalating need for data protection and archiving in midrange and enterprise server environments. Apart from supporting the LTO tape format, IBM also offers its enterprise tape systems and formats.
In 2022, the total capacity shipments reached 148.3 exabytes of compressed storage capacity, marking a slight rise from the previous year. The impact of COVID-19 in 2020 and challenges in 2018 related to the availability of higher-capacity tape formats influenced LTO capacity shipments. However, unit shipments of magnetic tape decreased by over 20% in 2022, reflecting a trend observed in HDDs and NAND flash memory demand.
The surge in LTO tape demand in 2022 was primarily driven by hyperscale data centers and enterprises adopting LTO tape for its cost-effectiveness, secure storage features, and energy efficiency. The latest LTO-9 tape generation saw a rapid adoption rate, with a compressed storage capacity of 45TB. Looking ahead, LTO-10 tapes with a raw capacity of 36TB are anticipated to be introduced in 2023 or early 2024.
At the 2023 NAB show in Las Vegas, Fujifilm, a major LTO tape media supplier, discussed the availability of LTO-9 tapes, which offer a raw capacity of 18TB. The LTO tape roadmap extends to LTO-14, projecting a raw storage capacity of 576TB and a compressed storage capacity of about 1.4PB, with announcements typically occurring every three years.
Projections by Coughlin Associates for HDDs, SSDs, and tape capacity shipments until 2028 indicate an expected uptick in demand for digital storage to support applications like AI, IoT, and medical uses. This growth trajectory is likely to reignite demand for HDDs, SSDs, and magnetic tape capacity shipments, with all these storage media advancing in per-device storage capacities.
In summary, the LTO program’s recent capacity and unit shipment disclosures for 2022 signify a marginal increase in capacity shipments alongside a notable decline in unit shipments. This trend aligns with the observed downturn in enterprise and data center unit shipments for HDDs and SSDs in 2022. As the demand for digital storage continues to rise, driven by digital transformation needs, a sustained growth in capacity demand across all storage media is anticipated.
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