ThinkPad its 1992 launch to keep the Harvard Business School happy. In April 1992, IBM announced the first ThinkPad tablet computer at a news conference. The first ThinkPad tablet, a PenPoint-based device formally known as the IBM 2521 ThinkPad, was positioned as a developer's release. The ThinkPad tablet became available for purchase by the general public in October of the same year. In addition to giving it an innovative name, IBM marketed the ThinkPad through imaginative activities such as early customer pilot programs, numerous pre-launch announcements, and an extensive loaner program designed to showcase the product's strengths and weaknesses. IBM even
Lenovo were driven by the popularity of Apple's iPhone and Lenovo's desire to increase its market share in mainland China. Lenovo passed Apple to become the No. 2 provider of smartphones to the Chinese market in 2012. However, due to there being about 100 smartphone brands sold in China, this second only equated to a 10.4% market share. In May 2012, Lenovo announced an investment of US$793 million in the construction of a mobile phone manufacturing and R&D facility in Wuhan, China. On January 27, 2011, Lenovo formed a joint venture to produce personal computers with Japanese electronics firm NEC. The