Fujifilm Plans 5x Increase in Magnetic Tape Production to Meet Soaring AI Data Archiving Demand

Image: Ars Technica · Source

Fujifilm will invest $63 million to quintuple production capacity of LTO Ultrium magnetic tape, driven by growing data needs from generative AI and enterprise archiving.

Fujifilm announced a significant investment of approximately 10 billion yen (about $63 million) to expand its production capacity for magnetic tape by five times compared to fiscal year 2025 levels. This expansion targets the production of their latest generation "FUJIFILM LTO Ultrium10" tape at their Kanagawa Factory in Odawara, Japan. The project is planned to run from fiscal years 2026 through 2028 and will involve expanding manufacturing capabilities and hiring additional personnel.

The company attributes this surge in demand for magnetic tape to the rapid growth in data storage needs fueled by the rise of generative artificial intelligence technologies worldwide. While magnetic tape may have fallen out of favor with mainstream consumers decades ago, it remains a critical technology for enterprises, particularly large cloud service providers and data centers, who rely on tape for cost-effective, large-volume data backup and archiving.

Fujifilm has a long history in magnetic tape development, dating back to the 1950s. They introduced their first LTO Ultrium storage tape in 2000 and pioneered the use of barium ferrite magnetic particles in tape manufacturing in 2011. In 2025, they launched LTO Ultrium10 tapes using a new “fine hybrid magnetic particles” technology that combines barium ferrite with strontium ferrite, boosting storage capacities with each generation.

Beyond cost efficiency, one of the key advantages of magnetic tape highlighted by Fujifilm is its offline nature, providing a physical air gap that safeguards data from sophisticated cyber threats such as ransomware attacks. Tapes can be securely stored disconnected from networks in vaults or remote locations, making tape a compelling choice for long-term, secure archival.

Fujifilm describes their investment in the Odawara facility as the largest dedicated LTO tape manufacturing expenditure in the company’s history, underscoring the continued strategic importance of tape storage in the era of expanding AI-driven data generation and enterprise data protection requirements.