ThinkPad
ThinkPad is a line of business-oriented laptop and tablet computers produced since 1992. It was originally designed, created and manufactured by the American International Business Machines Corporation. IBM sold its PC business to the Chinese company Lenovo in 2005 and since 2007 all ThinkPad models have been manufactured by them.
The ThinkPad line was first developed at the IBM Yamato Facility in Japan; they have a distinct black, boxy design, which originated in 1990 and is still used in some models. Most models also feature a red-colored trackpoint on the keyboard, which has become an iconic and distinctive design characteristic associated with the ThinkPad line. It has seen significant success in the business market while certain models target students and the education market. ThinkPad laptops have been used in outer space and for many years were the only laptops certified for use on the International Space Station. ThinkPads have also for several years been one of the preferred laptops used by the United Nations.
History
Following the failure of the first laptop computer, the PC Convertible, IBM was the last of the major personal computer manufacturers to enter the fast-growing notebook market, launching the PS/2 Note in 1992. Building on the PS/2 Note, the ThinkPad was developed to compete with Compaq in the United States, whose LTE was the first commercially successful notebook PC; as well as Apple Computer's highly successful PowerBook, and Toshiba in Japan, whose Dynabook series of notebooks were similarly successful. IBM signed a lucrative contract with the Harvard Business School to provide the campus with notebook PCs. The task of creating a notebook was given to the Yamato Facility in Japan, headed by Arimasa Naitoh, a Japanese engineer and product designer who had joined IBM in the 1970s, now known as the "Father of ThinkPad".The name "ThinkPad" was a product of IBM's corporate history and culture. Thomas J. Watson Sr. first introduced "Think" as an IBM slogan in the 1920s. With every minicomputer and mainframe IBM installed, a plastic sign with the text "Think" printed on an aluminum plate was placed atop the operator's console.
For decades, IBM had also distributed small notepads with the word "THINK" emblazoned on their cover to customers and employees. The name "ThinkPad" was suggested by IBM employee Denny Wainwright, who had one such notepad in his pocket. The name was opposed by the IBM corporate naming committee as all the names for IBM computers were numeric at that time, but "ThinkPad" was kept due to praise from journalists and the public.
Early models
In April 1992, IBM announced the first ThinkPad models, the 300, 700, and 700C all released on October 5, 1992. The 700T released in 1993 was a tablet computer.This machine was the first product produced under IBM's new "differentiated product personality" strategy, a collaboration between Richard Sapper and Tom Hardy, head of the corporate IBM Design Program. Development of the 700C also involved a close working relationship between Sapper and Kazuhiko Yamazaki, lead notebook designer at IBM's Yamato Design Center in Japan and liaison between Sapper and Yamato engineering.
This 1990–1992 "pre-Internet" collaboration between Italy and Japan was facilitated by a special Sony digital communications system that transmitted high-res images over telephone lines. This system was established in several key global Design Centers by Hardy so IBM designers could visually communicate more effectively and interact directly with Sapper for advice on their projects. For his innovative design management leadership during ThinkPad development, Hardy was named "Innovator of the Year 1992" by PC Magazine.
The first ThinkPad tablet, a PenPoint-based device formally known as the IBM ThinkPad 2521, was positioned as a developer's release. The ThinkPad tablet became available for purchase by the general public, as the 700T, in October of the same year.
IBM marketed the ThinkPad creatively, through methods such as early customer pilot programs, numerous pre-launch announcements, and an extensive loaner program designed to showcase the product's strengths and weaknesses, including loaning a machine to archaeologists excavating the ancient Egyptian city of Leontopolis. The resulting report documented the ThinkPad's excellent performance under difficult conditions; "The ThinkPad is an impressive machine, rugged enough to be used without special care in the worst conditions Egypt has to offer." The positive critical and commercial reception of the ThinkPad played a key part in reversing IBM's fortunes.
The first ThinkPads were very successful, collecting more than 300+ awards for design and quality.
Acquisition by Lenovo
In 2005, Lenovo purchased the IBM personal computer business and the ThinkPad as a flagship brand along with it. Lenovo founder Liu Chuanzhi said, "We benefited in three ways from the IBM acquisition. We got the ThinkPad brand, IBM's more advanced PC manufacturing technology and the company's international resources, such as its global sales channels and operation teams. These three elements have shored up our sales revenue in the past several years."Although Lenovo acquired the right to use the IBM brand name for five years after it acquired IBM's personal computer business, it was only used for three years. In 2012 Lenovo manufactured and marketed Think-branded products while IBM was mostly responsible for overseeing servicing and repairs for them. At that time both IBM and Lenovo played a key role in the design of their "Think" branded products.
Manufacturing
The majority of ThinkPad computers since the 2005 acquisition of the brand by Lenovo have been made in Mexico, Slovakia, India, and China. Lenovo employs ~300 people at a combined manufacturing and distribution center near its American headquarters. Each device made in this facility is labeled with a red-white-and-blue sticker proclaiming "Whitsett, North Carolina."In 2012, Lenovo produced a short run of special edition anniversary ThinkPads in Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan, in partnership with NEC, as part of a larger goal to move manufacturing away from China and into Japan.
In 2014, although sales rose 5.6 percent from the previous year, Lenovo lost its position as the top commercial notebook maker. However, the company celebrated a milestone in 2015 with the shipment of the 100 millionth unit of its ThinkPad line.
In 2017, Lenovo launched a ThinkPad model to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ThinkPad brand. It is based on the T470 and uses a similar keyboard to the 700C.
In 2022, Lenovo launched the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 Special Edition to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ThinkPad brand.
In 2023, Lenovo launched ThinkPad X1 Carbon 12 edition.
In late 2024, Lenovo launched ThinkPad Carbon 13 Aura which is an upgrade from the previous Carbon 12 edition.
2025 brought with it a new generation of the X1 Carbon, with the X1 Carbon Gen 13. Along with this, Lenovo released the X1 2-in-1 Gen 10, which utilizes a 360-degree hinge which allows the user to turn it into a tablet.
Design
The appearance of the ThinkPad has remained very similar throughout the entire lifetime of the brand. Almost all models are solid black inside and out, with a boxy case design. Some newer Lenovo models incorporate more curved lines. Many ThinkPads utilize magnesium, carbon fiber reinforced plastic, or titanium in their chassis.The industrial design concept was created in 1990 by Italy-based designer Richard Sapper, a corporate design consultant of IBM and, since 2005, Lenovo. The design was based on the concept of a traditional Japanese bento lunchbox, which revealed its nature only after being opened. According to later interviews with Sapper, he also characterized the simple ThinkPad form to be as elementary as a simple, black cigar box and with similar proportions, with the same observation that it offers a 'surprise' when opened.
Since 1992, the ThinkPad design has been regularly updated, developed, and refined over the years by Sapper and the respective teams at IBM and later Lenovo. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of ThinkPad's introduction, David Hill, who oversaw ThinkPad design from 1995 to 2017, authored and designed a commemorative book about ThinkPad design titled ThinkPad Design: Spirit & Essence.
The following ThinkPads have won design awards:
| Year | Model, ThinkPad 755C, ThinkPad 755C, ThinkPad 555BJ, ThinkPad 230Cs, ThinkPad 755CDV | ||
| 1995 | ThinkPad 850, ThinkPad 820, ThinkPad 530CS, ThinkPad 701C | ||
| 1996 | ThinkPad 701C | Die Gute Industrieform IF Top Ten Award | |
| 1997 | ThinkPad 560E, ThinkPad 380D | ThinkPad 560: Die Gute Industrieform IF Award | |
| 1998 | ThinkPad 770E/ED, ThinkPad 600, ThinkPad 560X, ThinkPad 385XD | ThinkPad 770, ThinkPad 380: Die Gute Industrieform IF Award | |
| 1999 | ThinkPad 390E, ThinkPad i Series Model 1476, ThinkPad 570, ThinkPad 240 | ThinkPad 600: International Design Excellence Award | |
| 2001 | ThinkPad i Series 1800, ThinkPad T22, ThinkPad A21e, ThinkPad A22p, ThinkPad i Series S30, ThinkPad i Series 1620, ThinkPad TransNote, ThinkPad X21 | ThinkPad 2000 Family: International Design Excellence Award | |
| 2002 | ThinkPad R30, ThinkPad T30, ThinkPad A30 | ThinkPad A30: Gold winner, Japan Good Design Award, International Design Excellence Award | |
| 2003 | ThinkPad R40, ThinkPad X30, ThinkPad T40, ThinkPad G40 | ||
| 2004 | ThinkPad X40, ThinkPad R50 | ||
| 2005 | ThinkPad Z60m, ThinkPad Z60t, ThinkPad x41 Tablet | ||
| 2006 | ThinkPad R60, ThinkPad T60, ThinkPad X60/X60s | ||
| 2007 | ThinkPad X61/X61s, ThinkPad X61 Tablet | ||
| 2008 | ThinkPad X200T, ThinkPad X200/X200s, ThinkPad W700, ThinkPad X300 | ThinkPad Long Life Design: Japan Good Design Award | |
| 2009 | ThinkPad SL410, ThinkPad T400s | ||
| 2010 | ThinkPad X201 Tablet, ThinkPad X201/X201s, ThinkPad X100e, ThinkPad Edge | ||
| 2011 | ThinkPad X1, ThinkPad X220, ThinkPad X220 Tablet, ThinkPad T420s, ThinkPad T520, ThinkPad Edge, ThinkPad Tablet | ||
| 2012 | ThinkPad T430s, ThinkPad X230, ThinkPad X1 Carbon | ThinkPad X1 Carbon: Very Best 100 winner, Japan Good Design Award, Die Gute Industrieform IF Award | |
| 2013 | ThinkPad T431s | ThinkPad X1 Carbon: Die Gute Industrieform IF Award | |
| 2014 | ThinkPad Yoga, ThinkPad X240s, ThinkPad T440s, ThinkPad X1 Carbon, ThinkPad 8 | ThinkPad X1 Carbon: Best of Best Red Dot Design Award, Die Gute Industrieform IF Award | |
| 2015 | ThinkPad Stack, ThinkPad Yoga 14, ThinkPad 10, ThinkPad Helix | ||
| 2016 | ThinkPad X1 Carbon, ThinkPad X1 Tablet, ThinkPad X1 Yoga, ThinkPad Yoga 260 | ThinkPad X1 Tablet: Gold iF Design Award | |
| 2017 | ThinkPad 25, ThinkPad X1 Carbon, ThinkPad X1 Yoga, ThinkPad T470 | ||
| 2018 | ThinkPad X1 Extreme, ThinkPad P1, ThinkPad X1 Yoga G3, ThinkPad X1 Carbon G6, ThinkPad X1 Tablet G3, ThinkPad 25 | ||
| 2019 | ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 4, ThinkPad X1 Carbon G7, ThinkPad X1 Extreme, ThinkPad P1 | ||
| 2020 | ThinkPad 11e Yoga Gen 6, ThinkPad X1 Nano, ThinkPad X1 Fold, ThinkPad X1 Carbon G7, ThinkPad X1 Yoga G4 | ThinkPad X1 Fold: Best of Best Red Dot Design Award | |
| 2021 | ThinkPad X12 Detachable, ThinkPad X1 Yoga G6, ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9, ThinkPad X1 Nano, ThinkPad X1 Fold, ThinkPad X1 Titanium G1, ThinkPad X1 Extreme, ThinkPad P1 G4 | ThinkPad X1 Fold: IDSA Award | |
| 2022 | ThinkPad X13s, ThinkPad Z13, ThinkPad Z16, ThinkPad P16, ThinkPad Neo 14 | ||
| 2023 | ThinkPad X13 G4, ThinkPad X13 Yoga G4, ThinkPad Z13 G2, ThinkPad X1 Fold 16, ThinkPad X1 Carbon G12 | ThinkPad Z13 G2, ThinkPad X1 Fold 16: Chicago Good Design Award | |
| 2024 | ThinkPad X1 Carbon G12, ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 G9, ThinkPad T14s G5, ThinkPad P1 G7, ThinkPad X13 G4, ThinkPad X13 Yoga G4, ThinkPad | ThinkPad Long Life Design: Japan Good Design Award ThinkPad Z13: IDSA Award | |
| 2025 | ThinkPad X9, ThinkPad X13 G6 | ThinkPad X9: Best of Best Red Dot Design Award |