A Time Line Of The IBM PC BusinessA Time Line Of The IBM PC Business

• 1981: The IBM PC hits the streets, starting at $1,565. It offers 16 kilobytes of user memory and creates a new industry of "IBM-compatible" clone machines.

• 1981: For the first time, IBM considers hiring outside manufacturers and taps SCI Systems Inc. to produce the IBM PC--a move that helped usher in the age of contract manufacturing.

• 1987: The Personal System/2 (PS/2) is introduced, and 1 million units ship in six months. (It took 28 months to ship 1 million units of the original IBM PC.)

• 1987: To support the PS/2, IBM introduces the OS/2 operating system, which gives users access to multiple applications. The OS/2 is the first offering in IBM's Systems Application Architecture.

• 1988: IBM teams with Sears to launch Prodigy, an early entry in the consumer online home banking and shopping market that's accessible via PCs.

• 1991: IBM rolls out the IBM Personal System/2 L40 SX laptop, weighing 7.7 pounds and featuring a full-sized keyboard and 10-inch display.

• 1992: The ThinkPad laptop computer comes out with the TrackPoint pointing device in the middle of the keyboard. The IBM Personal Computer Co. is formed as a separate operating unit focused on PC products.

• 1995: IBM's PC offerings hit the Pentium age with a system based on a 133-MHz version of the chip from Intel.

• 2002: IBM sells its disk-drive operations for $2.05 billion to a standalone company under majority ownership of Hitachi. Hitachi initially owns a 70% stake in the new company and assumes full ownership in 2005 after making a series of payments to IBM.

• 2003: The 20 millionth ThinkPad is sold.

• 2004: IBM agrees to sell its PC business to Lenovo Group Ltd. of China for about $1.75 billion in cash, equity, and other considerations.

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