Tape storage is proving anything but obsolete. On Tuesday, the LTO Program Technology Provider Companies (TPCs)—HPE, IBM, and Quantum Corp.—reported that capacity shipments jumped 57% year over year in the first quarter of 2026. The surge is being driven largely by AI data center requirements, along with steady demand for traditional archive workloads and cyber-resilient backups.
The strong start to the year follows a slight pullback in 2025. Total shipments last year reached 160.3 exabytes of compressed LTO tape capacity, a modest 9% decline the TPCs described on social media as a passing “bad weather” moment. Even so, an LTO program representative noted that “shipped capacity was higher than any other year in history save 2024 itself.” That record year saw 176.5 exabytes shipped, up 15.4% over the prior period.
AI Demand Reshapes the Case for Tape
The rebound in early 2026 reflects broader pressure on storage infrastructure across the tech sector. The combination of surging data volumes and rising cost, energy, and security concerns has renewed interest in tape as a long-term archive medium.
“We are seeing unprecedented data growth combined with increasing cost, energy, and cyber resilience pressures across the industry,” said Hugues Meyrath, CEO of Quantum. “As organizations adapt to this new reality, tape is increasingly viewed as a strategic component of modern data infrastructure, delivering predictable economics and resilient long-term data retention at scale.”
The format’s staying power stands out given past skepticism. Critics have dismissed it as outdated technology, yet the shipment figures suggest continued relevance for organizations managing massive data sets.
LTO-9 Momentum and Early LTO-10 Adoption
Two generations of hardware are behind the latest numbers. LTO-9 remains a key upgrade path for customers still using older cartridges, supporting up to 18TB uncompressed or 45TB compressed, according to the program companies.
The early ramp of LTO-10 has also boosted 2026 capacity figures. The newest cartridges store up to 40TB natively, or as much as 100TB compressed. Looking ahead, the TPCs have published a roadmap extending to LTO-14, which is designed to offer up to 576TB of native capacity per cartridge and as much as 1,440TB compressed.
Positioning Tape in the Modern Storage Mix
The TPCs argue that tape belongs “in every storage mix as an anchor against disruption.” They point to several advantages that continue to make the format competitive, including the lowest cost per terabyte, strong cyber-resilience, and high power efficiency—factors that carry added weight as data centers grapple with escalating energy costs.
These characteristics help explain why organizations facing rapid data expansion are turning to LTO alongside disk and cloud storage rather than replacing tape entirely. With Q1 2026 capacity shipments running 57% higher than the same quarter in 2025, the format has posted its strongest start to a year on record.
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Image: tomshardware.com
