Tape Media in the Cloud Sector
Split between LTO Ultrium and IBM 3592 Technology
In 2024, the delivered storage capacity on tape media is expected to reach 85 exabytes (EB), marking an increase of approximately 6% compared to 2023. This positive trend continues the growth seen in recent years. Between 2024 and 2029, the average annual growth rate of tape media capacity is estimated to be around 17%. By 2029, up to 180 EB of native tape storage capacity is expected to be delivered—more than 2.5 times the amount forecasted for 2024.
Approximately 85% of the delivered native tape storage capacity will be attributed to the LTO Ultrium midrange technology, while 15% will be accounted for by IBM's proprietary 3592 enterprise tape technology. Given the continued rapid growth of archive data and the corresponding space requirements for libraries in data centers, the next generation of LTO, LTO-11, will double the capacity of LTO-10 from 36 TB to 72 TB.
LTO-11 is expected to be released in 2026. Additionally, the 3592 technology will introduce a new drive and improved tape cartridge in the coming years. With a doubling of the capacity of the current 3592 JE tape cartridge to 80 TB of native capacity, the new generation 3592 tape cartridge, likely the "JG," could potentially reach a capacity of 100 TB. Customers such as CERN and Microsoft, who have particularly high demand for large-capacity tape cartridges, are further driving these developments.