Definition: IBM

(International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY) One of the oldest and certainly the most seasoned computer company. IBM was the dominant force in the computer industry for forty years starting in the mid-1950s. See BUNCH.

Although IBM has more employees than Google and Apple, revenue is down from its peak in the 2010s because the world shifted from terminals and mainframes to desktop computer networks. IBM sells small and large computers, a wide variety of consulting services and cloud computing (see IBM Cloud). See mainframe.

Current products include mainframes, midrange models and small servers (see IBM Z, Power Systems and LinuxONE). IBM's Condor was the first quantum computer to have more than a thousand qubits, and AI solutions are featured under the Watson brand, named for the company's founder (see Watson and watsonx).

IBM made its own transistors in the 1950s and migrated to chips in the 1960s. In 2015, it sold its semiconductor business to GlobalFoundries. However, new versions of the chips the company uses are researched and tested at IBM facilities. See GlobalFoundries.

IBM Began More Than a Century Ago
It all started in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, a merger of businesses selling punch cards, measuring scales and time clocks (see CTR). In 1914, Thomas J. Watson. became general manager. Over the next decade, he kept the punch cards but eliminated everything else, turning CTR into a data processing enterprise renamed IBM in 1924.

Watson also instilled a professional demeanor in his employees. Even service engineers wore suits. Before making repairs on greasy mechanical punch card machines, they took off their jackets and tucked their ties into their white shirts. This set IBMers apart from everyone else in the industry.

IBM achieved spectacular success with its punch cards. Although there was some competition from Remington Rand, data processing throughout the world was mostly done on IBM machines. From the 1920s through the 1960s, IBM developed a massive customer base ideal for conversion to computers, later spearheaded by Watson's son, Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

IBM and Computers Were Synonymous
IBM launched its computer business in 1953 with the 701 and then the 650 a year later. By the end of the 1950s, the 650 was the most popular computer in the world. The 1401 was IBM's second big winner (see IBM 650 and IBM 1401).

In 1964, the IBM System/360 was the first "family" of computers ever developed. Enormously successful, the 360 set a standard underlying IBM mainframes to this day. During the 1970s and 80s, IBM introduced several "minicomputers." The AS/400 was the most popular.

In those early days, IBM was so dominant, it was "IBM and the Seven Dwarfs." See System/360, System 34, System 36, System/38, Power Systems and AS/400.

In and Out of PCs
In 1981, IBM introduced the PC into a chaotic personal computer field and set the standard almost overnight. Although one of the largest PC vendors for many years, IBM sold the PC business to Lenovo starting in 2004, and the once-ubiquitous IBM logo slowly began to disappear in the world. See System X, IBM PC and Lenovo.

IBM Mainframes Still Flourish
In the late 1990s, IBM embraced the Linux operating system on all of its product lines, which was a major shift for a company known for proprietary software. Today, IBM mainframes process a huge amount of enterprise data with a lineage dating back six decades. IBM's Z series features AI processing, quantum-safe encryption and extreme reliability. See IBM Z.

The Man Who Built an Empire

This photo of Thomas J. Watson, Sr., was taken in 1920, four years before he renamed the company IBM. (Image courtesy of IBM.)