Sales of IBM's ThinkPad personal computers passed the 20 million mark last week, making it the world's best-selling notebook brand.
The computer giant said the 20 millionth IBM ThinkPad notebook it sold was a T41 model with a 1.7-gigahertz Intel microprocessor, featuring 512 megabytes of random access memory, a 60-gigabyte hard drive, up to 8-1/2 hours of battery life and Intel's Centrino wireless networking system.
The ThinkPad T41 is one of the industry's thinnest and lightest 14-inch notebooks, at less than 2.5cm thick and with a travel weight of 2kg. The IBM laptop line includes the R, T, X, A and G-series notebooks.
'ThinkPad is the standard-bearer for notebook computing, and that's because we listened to our customers from the very beginning,' said Fran O'Sullivan, general manager at IBM's personal computing division.
Since its introduction in 1992, an era that began with the now-ubiquitous 'clamshell' notebook design, ThinkPad has delivered many 'firsts' in the industry, according to IBM. These included being the first notebook with each of the following: colour liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, 14-inch LCD screen, full-sized keyboard and removable hard drive.
'We listen to our customers. Find out what they like and value from a notebook system and then we add what we learn to the next round of products,' Ms O'Sullivan said. 'They get better and better every year, but the basic ThinkPad attributes remain unchanged - innovation, reliability, performance, security, ease of management, ease of use.'