LTO Cartridge Market Down 6% Q/Q at 4.8 Million Units in 2Q14 - SCCG

The Santa Clara Consulting Group has published Backup Tape Tracker ($2,850) for 2Q14•

Here is the executive summary.

Backup tape cartridge sales amounted to $132.39 million in 2Q14.

LTO accounted for 95.5% of total with sales of $126.40 million.

The media market is expected to be $128.26 million in the next quarter.

Total LTO sales were down at 4.8 million units in Q2. LTO-6 continued its expansion in the quarter accounting for 18% of units and 35% of dollars. LTO-5 was slightly down from the previous quarter. It accounted for 40% of unit sales and 33% of dollars. LTO-4 was significantly lower. It represented 30% of units and 23% of dollars. LTO-3 sales also fell off. They accounted for 10% of volume and 8% of dollars. LTO-1 and LTO-2 were off -63% and -34% respectively from small bases. Combined, they accounted for 2% of units and 2% of dollars. HP led the LTO market with a 29% share. Fuji was the second largest supplier and IBM was third. 3Q14 LTO unit sales are expected to be slightly lower. They will be supported by growth of LTO-6.

The DDS/DAT cartridge volume was slightly down at .30 million units in Q2. DAT-72 accounted for 34% of unit sales and 34% of the value of the segment. DAT-160 accounted for 39% of the value of the segment and DAT-320 sold 5%. HP led the DDS/DAT market with a 77% share. Segment dollar sales amounted to $4.29 million.

DLT-S cartridge sales amounted to .01 million units. HP led the segment. It was followed by Quantum and Maxell. DLT-S dollar sales are expected to be off to $0.52 million in 3Q14.

DLT-V sales were off at .01 million units. Their value was $0.24 million. DLT-VS1 cartridges accounted for 40% of units. Quantum led the segment with a 56% share. HP was second at 26%. Sales of DLT-V are expected to be lower in 3Q14.

AIT media supports its respective installed bases of drives. Total AIT cartridge volume in the quarter amounted to .01 million units. Sony was their sole supplier.

Shipments of QIC cartridges in the quarter totaled .01 million units. Their value was $.44 million. Imation dominated the segment with a market share of 99%.

The 8mm metal particle cartridge amounted to .0002 million units worth $0.002 million. Sony was the largest supplier.