Fujifilm has confirmed that its new LTO Ultrium 10 data cartridges with 40TB native capacity will begin shipping in January 2026, turning the highest-capacity tier of the LTO-10 generation into a commercially available product. The cartridges offer up to 100TB of capacity with compression and are designed to operate in the same LTO-10 drives already deployed for earlier 30TB media.

The launch adds a second capacity point within the LTO-10 generation, something that is unusual for LTO, which historically advances capacity only when a new drive generation arrives. In this case, Fujifilm is launching the 40TB cartridge as an “advanced iteration” of the 30TB cartridge instead of a straight-up replacement for it, giving customers a choice between 30TB and 40TB based on cost and storage density factors.

According to the company’s announcement, the increase in capacity comes from changes to the tape itself rather than the cartridge format or drive. Fujifilm says it has refined its fine hybrid magnetic particle formulation while also adopting a thinner base film made from aramid material. Together, these changes allow a 30% increase in tape length to be packed into the same physical cartridge without compromising durability or reliability.

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Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist.  Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.