Lenovo's ThinkPad laptops have dominated the enterprise market for years. What's the secret? Consistency. Enterprise CIOs say that's why they like it.

Ace Hardware CIO Rick Williams says, 'Familiarity and consistent experience are important,' and his company uses about 4,000 ThinkPads.

The ThinkPad brand of personal computers was originally created by IBM and went on the market in 1992. Lenovo Group acquired IBM's personal computer division in 2005. Lenovo says the square design (initially inspired by the Japanese bento box) became thinner and lighter but otherwise remained largely unchanged from a design perspective since then.

The first ThinkPad introduced to the market by IBM in 1992.

The logo remains unchanged, but Lenovo did add a red dot to the 'i' in 'Think' in 2005, and that dot remains today. The logo is still at a 37-degree angle on devices. The red pointing stick on the keyboard still sits between the 'B', 'G', and 'H' keys. The position of the ports and camera is also relatively consistent. Although some small variations in color have been tried out, the laptops themselves are primarily black.

'You will recognize the iconic ThinkPad,' said Tom Butler, global commercial product portfolio and product management executive director for Lenovo Group.

The company's strategy seems counterintuitive in an industry where winners and losers are often determined by how quickly they innovate, with being static often meaning being phased out. Brands that dominated the consumer tech space at the start of the 21st century, such as BlackBerry, Nokia and Motorola, ultimately fell behind their competitors. But for Lenovo, which focuses on the enterprise space, the gamble paid off. According to research firm Gartner, Lenovo has maintained its position as the world's top personal computer vendor ー in terms of shipments ー for more than a decade. Initial figures suggest Lenovo's market share in household personal computers in the second quarter of 2019 was 24.4 percent, followed by HP at 22.6 percent and Dell at 16.7 percent.

"In many respects, our job is to keep the train on the tracks," said Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group. "You make too many changes to a product that is commonly used like a PC, and your costs go up and your headaches go up. For IT leadership, something like that is undesirable."

A Dell representative said many of its competitors have higher market share in lower-priced markets and emerging countries, but Dell would continue to focus on areas of high value like HP did not respond to a request for comment.

IBM brand born in the 1910s

Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, said Lenovo early on took advantage of an IBM tagline, which IBM Chief Executive Thomas J. Watson created in the 1910s, later becoming synonymous with trustworthy products. ("No one ever got fired for buying IBM," became a popular catchphrase in the 21st century.) Enderle said that while other hot tech brands of the early 21st century fell from favor, the ThinkPad brand remained, thanks to its loyal user base, which kept climbing the corporate ladder and eventually entered executive decision-making.

But unlike tech companies centered around consumers, the ThinkPad's reputation was largely due to its consistency of design, resonating with large, change-averse traditional businesses that simply wanted a familiar and reliable product. "IT people said, 'We like Lenovo,'" said John Wei, chief technology officer at tech provider Integreon. "IT people spill coffee on it. It doesn't break. They drop it on a trip. It doesn't break."

Some CIOs have said that a timeless design helps reduce conflicts between employees using either old or new devices.

HP and Dell, among others, have tried more curved designs and different kinds of keyboards, and been more aggressive with updated ports.

Most of our users don't have to think about it," Williams of Ace Hardware said. "It's reliable. People value having reliable technology.

Lenovo's ThinkPads are known for their high adaptability. Butler said the company subjects the notebooks to 'tough tests' that include drops and extreme temperatures.

"The ThinkPad is not a flashy device. They kind of look outdated compared with Dell and HP's products today," said John Wei, CTO of tech provider Integreon. "But IT people said, 'We like Lenovo.' People spill coffee on it. It doesn't break. People drop it on travel. It doesn't break.

Some CIOs also said the timeless design helped reduce conflicts between employees who had either old or new devices.

"Because they don't fundamentally change the design, those who have a notebook from two or three years ago don't feel left behind," said David Vidoni, CIO of software company Pegasystems.

According to Enderle, another factor driving Lenovo's development is its wider global influence compared to its competitors, enabling companies with global business to find uniform device support worldwide.

Lenovo Group reported revenue of $57 billion for the fiscal year ending in March, with approximately 0.07 million employees worldwide. Lenovo's main business is smart devices and personal computers, server infrastructure, and its software division is also constantly developing.

The ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, launched by Lenovo in 2024, can directly run AI on the device.

Moderate change.

Today's laptops seen at Best Buy are not exactly the same as IBM's laptops launched in 1992. Butler said Lenovo has been making some small improvements over the years, focusing on changes that won't interfere with users. For example, this generation of laptops has slightly raised markings in more areas of the keyboard to make it easier for visually impaired users to use. Butler said he sometimes challenges users to see if they notice these adjustments.

Of course, the computer's processing power has also significantly improved, and AI PCs launched this year can directly run artificial intelligence algorithms on the device. As for future improvements, Butler said he has been closely watching and constantly communicating with CIOs to understand what they want from the device. But he added that it's important to remember that "enterprises want predictability and consistency."