First and foremost, no surprises.

• The award-winning ThinkPad® notebook and ThinkCentre™ desktop product lines will continue.
• The ThinkPad award-winning engineers, manufacturing teams, sales representatives, business partners, and ThinkVantage Technologies software tools will stay with ThinkPad.
• IBM’s world-class services and support organization will continue.
• You trust your IBM Dealer, and you can keep trusting it.
  
  

Questions and answers

As the quality leader in the PC industry, IBM has become the benchmark for other vendors.

Some recent awards won by the PC Company include:

• Notebook Reliability and Service Award – ThinkPad wins for sixth year in a row!
  — 2004 PC Pro Reliability and Service Awards, November 2004
• ThinkPad – Only Wintel notebook with Highest "A" Rating for both Work and Home Notebooks
  — Service and Reliability Survey, PC Magazine, July 2003

See what the analysts are saying:

• "RFG believes IBM’s sale of its PC business to Lenovo should have little to no short term effect on enterprise reliant upon or considering IBM PC’s. … In the longer term, though, RFG believes the combined entity will be able to maintain high quality levels and lower production costs. … IT executives should keep IBM on their short list of candidate PC vendors."
  — Robert Frances Group, December 2004
• "According to Brian Gammage, principle analyst at Gartner… 'Customers have indicated that quality has risen for IBM. Where quality has become more difficult for some other manufacturers in this highly competitive market, IBM has been able to keep themselves ahead of the rest on the quality issue.' "
  — IDG News Service, December 2004

Groundbreaking innovations – from airbag-like technology to data protection and integrated security biometrics – continue to widen the gulf between ThinkPads and other notebook PCs.

Some recent awards won by the PC Company include:

• PC Magazine 2004 BEST OF THE YEAR — December 2004
  • ThinkPad X40 – Best Ultraportable
  • ThinkCentre S50 – Best Corporate
  • ThinkCentre A50 – Best Small Business
• ThinkPad T42 with Fingerprint Reader – Best of the Best -Notebook of the year
  — Laptop Magazine, December 2004

See what the analysts are saying:

• "The new ThinkPad T Series T42 now comes with an integrated finger print reader for those who take their security seriously."
  — MSNBC, October 5, 2004
• "Analysts support IBM's claims that the Lenovo deal will not squelch innovation. [S]aid Leslie Fiering, an analyst at Gartner... 'If this deal is done right, the only thing customers will notice will be that prices are a little bit lower, and nobody's going to object to that.' "
  — eWeek, December 2004

IBM shipped its first PC in August of 1981, over 22 years ago. In July 2004, IBM sold its 100 millionth PC. Over the last 12 months, IBM’s PC business has seen double-digit revenue growth, outperforming the industry in key categories.

See what the analysts are saying:

• "IBM is a marquee name among businesses around the world, and Lenovo dominates China, the world's fastest-growing market. 'This new player is not to be underestimated,' said Gartner analyst Tom Bittman. 'This is going to become the No. 3 player.' "
  — Austin American-Statesman, December 9, 2004

IBM and Lenovo both bring the spirit of innovation to the new company; it's the complementary strengths of each one that will create new value for PC customers. Watch this space for exciting products, services and technologies that will continue to raise the bar.

The future is an exciting place to be.