ThinkPad flex, stainless steel hinges, a biometric fingerprint reader, Client Security Solution, which improves security using a built-in Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and facilitates deployment in corporate environment, the ThinkVantage Technologies suite of computer management applications, and drain holes to help reduce damage to the keyboard and components from accidental spillage. The original design concept of ThinkPad was created in 1990 by Italy-based designer Richard Sapper, a corporate design consultant of IBM and, since 2005, Lenovo. Sapper is noted for the design of classic products such as the Tizio lamp for Artemide, office chair for Knoll, kitchenwares for Alessi and ballpoint
Lenovo "As a Japanese, I am glad to see the return to domestic production and the goal is to realize full-scale production as this will improve our image and make the products more acceptable to Japanese customers." In October 2012, Lenovo announced that it would start assembling computers in Whitsett, North Carolina. Production of desktop and laptop computers, including the ThinkPad Helix began in January 2013. , 115 workers were employed at this facility. Lenovo has been in Whitsett since 2008, where it also has centers for logistics, customer service, and return processing. In 2015, Lenovo and Hong Kong Cyberport Management