Our History

1980s

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  • 1981
    • IBM PCD introduces its first personal computer, the IBM PC
  • 1984
    
    • With an initial capital outlay of only RMB200,000, (US$25,000) Lenovo's founding chairman Liu Chuanzhi, together with 10 like-minded colleagues, launches the New Technology Developer Inc. (the predecessor of the Legend Group) funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
  • 1986
    • IBM PCD announces its first laptop computer, the PC Convertible, weighing 12 pounds.
  • 1988
    • Legend's Chinese-character card receives the highest National Science-Technology Progress Award in China.
    • Legend Hong Kong is established.

1990s

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  • 1990
    • The very first Legend PC is launched in the market as the company shifts to a producer and seller of its own branded computer products.
  • 1992
    • IBM PCD introduces ThinkPad, the industry's first notebook with a 10.4 inch color Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display and a TrackPoint (red ball) pointing device.
  • 1993
    • Legend enters the Pentium era, producing China's first "586" PC.
  • 1994
    • IBM PCD introduces the industry's first notebook with integrated CD-ROM, the ThinkPad 755CD.
  • 1995
    • Legend introduces the first Legend-brand server.
  • 1996
    • Legend becomes the market share leader in China for the first time.
    • Legend introduces the first Legend brand laptop.
  • 1997
    • IBM PCD introduces the industry's first notebook equipped with a DVD-ROM, the ThinkPad 770.
  • 1998
    • The millionth Legend PC comes off the production line. Intel Chairman Andy Grove attends the ceremony, and takes the PC for Intel's museum collection.
  • 1999
    • Legend becomes the top PC vendor in the Asia-Pacific region.

2000s

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  • 2000
    • IBM PCD ships its 10-millionth ThinkPad notebook PC.
    • Legend becomes a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Index - HK.
  • 2001
    • An IBM notebook with an embedded security chip becomes the first notebook certified by the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance, an industry body setting data security standards.
    • Legend appoints Yuanqing Yang President and CEO.
  • 2002
    • Legend's supercomputer, the DeepComp 1800 makes its debut. It is China's first computer with 1,000 GFLOP (floating point operations per second) and China's fastest computer for civilian use, ranked 43rd in the Top 500 list of the world's fastest computers.
  • 2003
    • Legend announces the birth of its new "Lenovo" logo to prepare for its expansion into the overseas market.
  • 2004
    • IBM PCD introduces the first notebook with an integrated fingerprint reader.
    • IBM PCD ships its 100-millionth PC (counting both desktop and notebook computers).
    • Lenovo becomes an Olympic worldwide partner. It is the first Chinese company to become a computer technology equipment partner of the IOC.
    • Lenovo and IBM announce an agreement by which Lenovo will acquire IBM's Personal Computing Division.
  • 2005
    • Lenovo completes the acquisition of IBM's Personal Computing Division, making it a new international IT competitor and the third-largest personal computer company in the world.
    • William J. Amelio is appointed as CEO and President of Lenovo, and Yuanqing Yang is appointed Chairman of the Board.
  • 2006
    • Lenovo technology flawlessly supports the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy, supplying 5,000 desktop PCs, 350 servers and 1,000 notebook computers.
  • 2007
    • The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games selects a Lenovo-designed Olympic Torch as the winning design from among 300 entries.
  • 2008
    • Lenovo enters the worldwide consumer PC market with new Idea brand.
    • Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 is called "the best laptop ever" by BusinessWeek magazine.
    • Lenovo provides a smooth, error-free performance at the Beijing Olympic Games, the largest sporting event in history.
  • 2009
    • Lenovo becomes senior technology sponsor for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
    • Lenovo sells its 1 millionth Idea Product.

2010s

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  • 2010
    • Lenovo introduces LePhone, its first smartphone
    • Lenovo sells its 60 millionth ThinkPad
  • 2011
    • Lenovo forms Mobile Internet Digital Home (MIDH) business unit to attack growing opportunity in consumer devices such as smartphones, tablets and smart TV
    • Lenovo forms a joint venture with NEC, creating the largest PC company in Japan.
    • Lenovo acquires Medion, a PC and consumer electronics company based in Germany, substantially increasing presence in consumer market in Western Europe.
  • 2012
    • Lenovo forms a joint venture with EMC to sell servers in China and develop storage solutions
    • Lenovo acquires Stoneware, a software firm focused on cloud computing
    • Lenovo sells its 75 millionth ThinkPad
  • 2013
    • Lenovo becomes the world's #1 PC company
    • Lenovo reaches #329 in the Fortune 500 list of the world's largest companies
    • Lenovo acquires CCE, a leading consumer electronic company in Brazil
    • Lenovo becomes the world's #3 smartphone company
  • 2014
    • Lenovo announces it will acquire the System x server business from IBM and, eight days later, announces it will acquire Motorola Mobility from Google.
    • Lenovo reaches #286 on the Fortune 500 list.
    • Lenovo finalizes the purchase of System x and Motorola Mobility, making Lenovo #3 worldwide in both servers and smartphones.
  • 2015
    • Lenovo sells its 100 millionth ThinkPad.
    • Lenovo hosts Tech World in Beijing, an event that sets the vision for the future ecosystem of connected devices.
    • Lenovo reaches #231 in the Fortune 500 list.
    • Interbrand lists Lenovo among the top 100 global brands.
    • Boston Consulting Group ranks Lenovo among the top 50 most innovative companies worldwide.
  • 2016
    • Lenovo expands partnership with SAP to develop agile cloud solutions.
    • Lenovo partners with Nutanix to bring invisible infrastructure to data centers around the world.
    • Lenovo collaborates with Google to develop the world’s first mobile device with 3D motion tracking and depth sensing.
    • Lenovo reaches #202 in the Fortune 500 list.