Tape media pricing is erratic

Several months ago, tape media manufacturers warned suppliers that prices were due to increase thanks to rising petrochemical costs. This month's tape media pricing bears that out--sort of. While SuperDLT I and LTO-3 cartridges rose 4.2% and 5%, respectively, prices for the remaining tape types declined, some quite dramatically. LTO-1 pricing dropped a whopping 13.2%, down to an average of $33 per cartridge. Tape drive prices, meanwhile, showed little movement. In fact, IBM's LTO-2 drive seems to have flatlined.

Disk drives

Ultra SCSI tape drives

Media