Fujifilm LTO tape production capacity is set to grow about fivefold. On 29 October 2026 Fujifilm said it will invest about 10 billion yen at its Odawara site from fiscal 2026 through fiscal 2028, mainly for LTO-10 media. The extra supply arrives over three years and Fujifilm said nothing about prices, so plan purchases around today's LTO-9 and LTO-10 street prices.

What Fujifilm announced

Fujifilm's English release and Japanese release, both dated 29 October 2026, say the company will spend about 10 billion yen at its Kanagawa Factory, Odawara Site. The money pays for more manufacturing equipment and more staff. Fujifilm calls it the largest investment it has made in facilities dedicated to LTO tape.

The fivefold figure comes with a footnote: it is based on shipment capacity, compared with fiscal 2025. That is total terabytes shipped, and Fujifilm gave no cartridge count. A 40 TB LTO-10 cartridge holds more than twice as much as an 18 TB LTO-9 cartridge, so part of the growth can come from shifting output to the bigger format.

Fujifilm says the investment centres on its latest LTO Ultrium 10 cartridges, sold in 30 TB and 40 TB versions. The reason it gives is archive demand from generative AI and cloud services, wider use of tape by large cloud and data centre operators, and interest in offline copies as protection against ransomware.

Blocks & Files reported the plan on 28 October 2026, citing Nikkei Asia, and converted the investment to about 63 $ million.

Why Fujifilm is adding capacity now

Tape shipments are growing again. The LTO Program said on 1 September 2026 that 176,5 exabytes of LTO capacity shipped in 2024, a record, and 160,3 exabytes in 2025, down 9%. Shipped capacity in the first quarter of 2026 was 57% higher than a year earlier, which the LTO Program credits to LTO-9 sales and the early LTO-10 ramp. It expects 2026 to set a new record.

Only two companies make LTO media, Fujifilm and Sony. Blocks & Files suggested Sony may raise output too. Sony has not announced anything.

Will LTO tape prices fall?

Nothing in Fujifilm's release points to lower prices, and it gives no figures on prices or lead times. Here is what buyers pay today, from our US price check of 23 October 2026:

  • LTO-9 (18 TB native): 92,45 $ to 129 $ per cartridge. Fujifilm's LTO-9 cartridge (16659047) ranged from 98,50 $ to 103,25 $.
  • LTO-10 30 TB: 259 $ to 299,99 $.
  • LTO-10 40 TB: 491 $ to 555 $, or 12,28 $ to 13,88 $ per native terabyte. MagStor listed the Fujifilm 40 TB cartridge (16978170) at 499,99 $ against a regular price of 888,89 $.

In that check, cartridge prices were mostly flat against September 2026, with small rises at BackupWorks and TapeandMedia. Tape4Backup still showed a banner saying all its LTO tape prices went up from 1 September 2026.

Drives are a separate story. Quantum standalone LTO-9 drives rose about 20% to 30% at BackupWorks and LTO World between 17 September and 23 October 2026, according to our tracker. Fujifilm's plan covers media only, so it does nothing for drive prices.

With the new capacity spread across fiscal 2026 to 2028, waiting for a media price drop is a gamble with no announced date behind it.

LTO‑10 availability today

At the sellers we checked on 23 October 2026, 30 TB LTO-10 cartridges were broadly in stock. Supply of 40 TB cartridges was patchy: Fujifilm's 40 TB was in stock at MagStor, in limited stock at Tape4Backup and special order at TapeandMedia, and Quantum's 40 TB was on pre-order at TapeandMedia. Tape4Backup had no 30 TB LTO-10 WORM cartridges in stock.

No seller we checked listed a half-height LTO-10 drive, so LTO-10 still means full-height drives. LTO-10 drives also cannot read or write older LTO generations, which matters if you hold LTO-8 or LTO-9 archives. Fujifilm says the investment is meant to secure stable supply of LTO-10 cartridges, which is where stock is thinnest today.

What to do if you are buying tape now

Buy media for the next six to twelve months at current prices. Nothing announced so far gives a reason to hold off, and nothing suggests stockpiling either.

For most buyers LTO-9 is still the cheaper medium. At our 23 October 2026 prices it costs 5,14 $ to 7,17 $ per native terabyte, against 8,63 $ to 10,00 $ for 30 TB LTO-10 and 12,28 $ to 13,88 $ for 40 TB LTO-10. Choose LTO-10 when slot count in a library is the limit or when you are buying drives anyway and want the longer roadmap.

If you plan a library around 40 TB cartridges, ask resellers for a written lead time before you order, and price the job with 30 TB cartridges as a fallback. Our backup calculator gives cartridge counts for either size, and the tape library guide covers slot and drive sizing.

Häufige Fragen

Is Fujifilm increasing LTO tape production?

Yes. On 29 October 2026 Fujifilm said it will invest about 10 billion yen at its Odawara site in Kanagawa to raise data storage tape production capacity about fivefold, measured by shipped capacity against fiscal 2025. The spending runs from fiscal 2026 through fiscal 2028 and goes mainly to LTO-10 (LTO Ultrium 10) media.

Will LTO tape prices go down because of Fujifilm's expansion?

Fujifilm's announcement says nothing about prices. Our 23 October 2026 US price check found LTO-9 cartridges at 92,45 $ to 129 $ and 40 TB LTO-10 cartridges at 491 $ to 555 $, mostly flat against September. More supply may ease pressure later, but no source we checked forecasts a price cut.

When will the extra Fujifilm LTO-10 supply arrive?

Fujifilm gives the investment period as fiscal 2026 through fiscal 2028 and has not published an interim ramp schedule. Expect the added capacity to arrive in steps over those years, so it will not change what you can buy this quarter.

Should I buy LTO-9 or LTO-10 tapes now?

On cost per terabyte, LTO-9 is cheaper today: 5,14 $ to 7,17 $ per native TB against 8,63 $ to 10,00 $ for 30 TB LTO-10 and 12,28 $ to 13,88 $ for 40 TB LTO-10, based on our 23 October 2026 US price check. LTO-10 makes sense when you need more capacity per slot or are buying new drives anyway, since LTO-10 drives cannot read older generations.

Who makes LTO tape cartridges?

Two companies manufacture LTO tape media: Fujifilm and Sony. Blocks & Files suggested on 28 October 2026 that Sony may also raise output, but Sony has announced nothing.

Current media prices by generation are on the LTO-9 price and LTO-10 price pages, and monthly tape news is on LTO tape news.