Tape storage had a weaker 2025 after a record 2024, according to figures reported by The Register from the LTO Program, the alliance of HPE, IBM, and Quantum Corp that maintains the Linear Tape-Open format. The program said 160.3 exabytes of LTO tape shipped in 2025, down from 176.5 exabytes in 2024. That is a decline of about 9%, or roughly 16 exabytes. The Register notes that 2024 was an all-time high for the format, while 2025 still ranked as LTO’s second-highest shipment year. The LTO Program accounts for a large share of the tape market: The Register says the format represents around 85% of tape sales. That makes the annual shipment figure a useful indicator for a storage category that remains important in archival workloads, even as it sits outside the faster-growing parts of cloud and AI infrastructure. The program’s explanation, as reported by The Register, is that the decline was not necessarily structural. It cited storage analyst Tom Coughlin, who attributed the drop to the “evolving international trade environment” and more cautious purchasing behavior as organizations adjusted sourcing and inventory decisions. The same announcement pointed to a stronger start to 2026. The Register reports that Q1 2026 LTO shipments were 57% higher than the same period a year earlier, and that the LTO Program expects 2026 to be another record year. That forecast should be treated as the program’s outlook rather than an independent projection. The early 2026 rebound was attributed to a new 40TB tape cartridge. According to The Register, the new cartridge is compatible with drives that support the prior 30TB generation, which was previously the highest-capacity LTO option. The basic trade-off remains unchanged. Tape offers high capacity and low power consumption, but retrieval and restore times are slow, and cartridges require careful storage. That profile makes tape better suited to archival and backup use cases than workloads that need frequent, fast access. The Register also notes competitive pressure from hyperscaler archival-storage-as-a-service offerings that can present “virtual tape” interfaces for compatibility with tape backup tools. Those providers do not always disclose the underlying media, but The Register says many appear to rely on high-capacity hard drives, which are currently in short supply because hyperscalers need them for AI applications. That shortage does not automatically translate into a clear opening for tape. The Register points out that only Sony and Fujifilm make LTO tape cartridges, and tape supply shortages have occurred before. For buyers, the practical question is whether tape’s power and capacity advantages can outweigh slower access and supply-chain constraints as archival demand grows. Who benefits: Organizations with large archival workloads may benefit if higher-capacity LTO cartridges improve density without requiring a full drive refresh. LTO ecosystem vendors also benefit if the Q1 2026 rebound continues. Who's exposed: Cloud archival services and hard-drive-based cold storage offerings remain comparison points for customers evaluating cost, access time, and power use. Tape buyers are also exposed to concentration in cartridge supply, since The Register says only Sony and Fujifilm make LTO cartridges.