Sony and Panasonic Jointly Developing Beefy 300 GB Optical Discs

Two of Japan's largest consumer-electronics competitors — Sony and Panasonic — are joining forces to develop next-generation optical discs that pack 300 GB of data.

The companies announced Monday that they aim to jointly expand their "archive business for long-term digital data storage." Sony and Panasonic plan to develop an optical disc that can record at least 300 GB by the end of 2015.

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"In recent years, there has been an increasing need for archive capabilities, not only from video production industries, such as motion pictures and broadcasting, but also from cloud data centers that handle increasingly large volumes of data following the evolution in network services," the companies said in a news release.

As the companies explained, optical discs are "a robust medium for long-term storage of content." At 300 GB, the discs are designed for use in a professional setting. In comparison, standard DVD discs currently sold at retail electronics stores only store 4.7 GB each, while single-layer Blu-ray discs typically hold up to 25 GB.

This is not the first time Sony and Panasonic have worked together. Last year, the two companies said they were jointly developing OLED panels and modules for TVs and large displays.

Do you prefer storing data in the cloud or in physical devices (e.g. disk drives)? Would you find 300 GB optical discs useful for data backup? Tell us in the comments, below.