After several years of holographic optical storage media promising to be the next big thing after multi-layer optical storage, Hitachi Maxell plans on making its 300GB holographic disc version, the Tapestry HDS-300R available to certain entertainment industry customers starting next month, followed by a general release within the first quarter of 2007, targeted at enterprise-class users. This 300GB version will feature about around a 20MB/s data transfer rate. So far, InPhase would not disclose any pricing information, however the 300GB version has been reported to likely retail for between US$100 and $125. Based on this earlier report, the drive is likely to retail for around US$15,000.

The company expects to launch a consumer version of the product over the next two years with an aim to have its format standardised also. Its main plan at the moment is to target enterprise-class companies and the entertainment industries in an aim to replace magnetic tape for archival storage, not to mention overcome its limitations. InPhase plans to have a 2nd generation holographic disc version out in 2008, with a 800GB capacity and around a 80MB/s data transfer rate, followed by a 1.6TB version by 2010.