Fujifilm plans 5x production boost of 100TB magnetic storage tapes driven by skyrocketing AI storage demand

Magnetic tape storage records digital information on magnetic tape housed in cartridges. It is slower than solid-state drives and hard disks, but it is highly durable and inexpensive for storing enormous data collections. That makes it valuable for long-term backup.

Modern data centers use tape mainly for cold data. This means information that is rarely opened but may be mission-critical. A company can move such records off faster storage while keeping a secure copy available when needed. Tape can cost as little as one-quarter as much as hard disks.

Its importance is growing because AI data centers generate and retain huge amounts of information. Tape also produces less pollution than hard disks and SSDs, according to research cited in the article. Fujifilm is expanding production to meet this rising demand, including tapes holding up to 100TB.

Fujifilm is expanding production capacity at its Odawara plant to meet surging demand for magnetic tape. The company plans to increase output by as much as five times. The move focuses on advanced tapes for data-center storage, especially as AI construction accelerates worldwide.

The investment totals 10 billion yen, reported as $63.3 million. Spending will take place throughout Fujifilm’s fiscal year 2028. The added capacity will allow the company to produce tapes with capacities of up to 100TB each. This is a major industrial expansion, not merely a product update.

Fujifilm says the project will be its largest investment in tape-based data-center storage in around two decades. The company began working on magnetic tape in 1954, originally for television broadcasting equipment. Today, its priority is supporting long-term backup as storage demand and shortages intensify.

One of Fujifilm’s new magnetic tapes can hold up to 100TB of data. That is a large capacity for a removable storage cartridge, especially when many cartridges can be stored together. Fujifilm is adding production capacity so data centers can obtain more of these advanced tapes.

The comparison depends on the storage technology. The article says SSDs top out at around 256TB, but they cost considerably more. The Linear Tape-Open, or LTO, roadmap goes further, allowing capacities of up to 365TB per cartridge. Thus, Fujifilm’s 100TB product is not the final capacity suggested for tape.

These figures show why storage buyers use different media for different jobs. SSDs provide speed, while tape offers economical, high-capacity archiving. As AI data centers expand, higher-capacity tape cartridges could help preserve growing volumes of rarely accessed information at lower cost.

Storage demand is rising sharply because companies are building data centers for artificial intelligence. These facilities need to store huge amounts of information, creating demand across tape, hard disks, and SSDs. The article describes AI data-center demand as a central cause of a global storage shortage.

The pressure affects supply and prices. Scarcity has caused storage prices to skyrocket. Manufacturers are also redirecting resources away from consumer-focused products and toward the more lucrative enterprise market. That means businesses and data centers receive greater attention than ordinary consumer devices.

The shortage shows little sign of improving anytime soon. Companies are responding by expanding production and developing higher-capacity products. Fujifilm is increasing tape output, while other storage makers are boosting hard-disk or flash capacity. The broader trend reflects AI’s continuing appetite for stored data, not just faster computing.

Cold data is information that is rarely accessed but still matters. It may be mission-critical, so organizations must preserve it safely even when they do not need it every day. Magnetic tape suits this role because it is durable and relatively inexpensive for storing very large amounts of data.

The cost difference is substantial. Magnetic tape storage can cost as little as one-quarter as much as hard disks, and even less compared with faster SSDs. Data centers can therefore use tape for long-term backup while reserving faster media for information that needs frequent access.

The trade-off is performance. Tape lags behind both traditional spinning hard disks and solid-state drives. It is not the best choice for rapid, regular access. However, the article notes that research also finds tape less polluting than hard disks and SSDs, adding an environmental benefit to its low operating cost.

Fujifilm is not the only company responding to the storage squeeze. Toshiba has announced plans to double hard-disk production capacity. The move addresses shortages affecting another major storage medium used by data centers and other large customers.

Hard-disk makers Seagate and WD are working toward ever-increasing capacities alongside Toshiba. Their focus is expanding the amount of data each drive can hold and increasing supply. Meanwhile, Kioxia and SanDisk have detailed 332-layer 3D NAND flash. They hope this technology will bring higher capacities to data-center SSDs.

These efforts target the same underlying problem: AI data-center construction is creating exceptional demand for storage. Prices have risen, and manufacturers are favoring enterprise customers over consumer products. The response is spread across tape, hard disks, and flash, suggesting no single technology can meet every speed, capacity, and cost requirement.

The article presents three broad storage choices. Magnetic tape is a removable medium for long-term backup. Hard disks use spinning platters, while SSDs use flash storage. Their designs create different strengths: tape favors low-cost archiving, hard disks offer a middle ground, and SSDs provide the fastest access among the options discussed.

A data center therefore matches media to the task. Tape is durable and can store huge volumes cheaply, making it suitable for cold data. Hard disks are faster than tape but cost more. SSDs are faster still and can reach around 256TB, yet they cost considerably more. LTO’s roadmap points to tape cartridges of up to 365TB.

Energy and environmental effects also differ. The article states that research finds tape less polluting than hard disks and SSDs. It does not explain the underlying engineering in detail. Overall, speed, capacity, durability, cost, and pollution concerns push data centers toward a mixture of technologies.