LTO supply problems to ease soon

Sony tells partners production at its stricken Japanese manufacturing plant should re-start next month

The supply problems that have dogged the tape storage channel since March’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan should start to ease from next month.

The country is home to the manufacturing plants of several tape vendors. Following the disaster, channel sources expressed concerns over the impact this would have on supplies of Sony’s products in particular, as its tape manufacturing plant was located in one of the worst-affected areas.

In a letter to partners last month, the vendor confirmed that full electricity at its plant in north Japan should finally be restored “in the next few weeks”.

It stated: “We are targeting to restart end-to-end production around the end of Q3 [September]. However, it might take slightly longer for some LTO generations.”

Production at Fujifilm’s factory in the south of Japan was also hit by rolling power outages in the wake of the disaster.

The firm’s strategic business manager, Roger Moore, said its supply problems had been exacerbated by the Sony situation.

In a statement, Moore said: “Supply was initially uncertain due to the power supply outages and increased demand, as a result of Sony’s problems. This exceptionally abnormal peak demand has intermittently led to longer lead times for new business.”

As a result, several channel firms said they will continue to impose strict ordering limits on customers until the supply problems ease up.

Gerard Marlow, general manager for business development at Sony distributor Hammer, said: “We have remained loyal to Sony throughout these developments and have been in constant communication with them, passing on up-dates to ensure our customers have remained informed of the situation.

“Hammer is positioned to receive allocated LTO products once they are back in production.”

Joe Fagan, group product marketing manager at distributor CMS Peripherals, added: "Once production restarts, the channel should notice the difference in a matter of days, if the products are being shipped out by air freight. Slightly longer if it is by sea."