Lenovo became the world’s largest PC maker by acquiring IBM’s Personal Computing Division in 2005 — a deal that included the legendary ThinkPad brand. That acquisition gave a Chinese company one of the most trusted names in business computing, and Lenovo has maintained ThinkPad’s reputation for reliability and build quality ever since.
The ThinkPad remains Lenovo’s crown jewel. The X1 Carbon is a staple in corporate IT departments worldwide, valued for its keyboard quality, durability, and consistent enterprise features. ThinkPad keyboards are still considered the best on any laptop, and the red TrackPoint nub remains a beloved feature among longtime users.
Beyond ThinkPads, Lenovo’s portfolio is enormous. The IdeaPad and Yoga lines cover consumer laptops, Legion targets gamers, and the ThinkStation and ThinkCentre lines serve workstation and desktop needs. Lenovo also makes tablets, Chromebooks, and monitors.
Lenovo’s server and infrastructure business, originally built on IBM’s x86 server division (acquired in 2014), competes with Dell and HPE in the enterprise market. The company also has a growing presence in edge computing and IoT solutions.
The Motorola mobile phone brand, acquired from Google in 2014, gives Lenovo a presence in the smartphone market, though Motorola operates fairly independently.
Headquartered in Beijing and Hong Kong, Lenovo generates over $60 billion in annual revenue. The company operates in 180 markets and employs tens of thousands of people globally. Lenovo’s strategy of acquiring established Western brands and maintaining their identity has worked remarkably well — ThinkPad users today are often unaware of or unconcerned about the Chinese ownership, which speaks to how well Lenovo has preserved these brands.
