Tape Storage Market Increasing, Says Freeman Associates Report

According to a new study by Freeman Associates (Santa Barbara, CA), the worldwide market for automated tape libraries will nearly triple to 120,000 units by the year 2002. Revenue of all classes of automated libraries is expected to increase from $2.1 billion in 1997 to $2.7 billion in 2002. The appeal of tape libraries "will be heightened by forthcoming advances in the underlying storage technologies," according to Raymond Freeman, co-author of

Tape Library Outlook. Eight-millimeter libraries commanded top billing in the tape library market in 1997, commanding a 43% share of unit shipments. DLT models, which captured 36% market share and 23% share of revenues in 1997, are predicted to take the top spot in tape library storage revenue by 2002.