Lenovo Sells 60 Million ThinkPads, Adds Optimus Graphics

Lenovo also announced the addition of Nvidia's Optimus technology to the ThinkPad T series -- specifically the T410, T410s and T510 laptops.

Optimus will add 33 percent more battery life compared to discrete-only graphics cards as well as high-perfromance graphics, according to a statement from Lenovo.

"Visual content is the most popular and important form of data today, and we’ve built the NVIDIA NVS 3100M graphics processor to be the perfect processor for the task,” Rene Haas, general manager of Lenovo's Notebook Products, said in a statement.

"In the five years since the acquisition, we've sold significantly more ThinkPads than IBM ever sold," Peter Hortensius, senior vice president of Lenovo's Think Product Group, said in an interview with CRN. "We are committed not just to keeping it but to improving it," he added.

Hortensius said Lenovo has taken ThinkPad from a very corporate brand to one aimed at small business and eventually, with the IdeaPad product line, consumers as well.

Traditionally, the ThinkPad has been a black computer, known for its reliability, with advanced keyboard features, and an overall business flavor. By making the Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) optional and adding media-centrality to the ThinkPad's configuration, it has made the transition to the consumer space, according to Hortensius.

However, a business laptop must have many of the tools available to consumers with some additional features. Tuesday's press release from Lenovo listed a few consumer tools for the ThinkPad available to business users: flash integration, speakers and cameras for VoIP conferencing and, as of Tuesday, switchable graphics from Optimus.

Moving forward, ThinkPad will likely offer more integrated features providing location-awareness. Motion sensors and printing settings that know whether you're at home or work will be added to the cameras and GPS already in use, Hortensius said.

As it has added solutions, the vast majority of ThinkPad systems have sold through the channel. Hortentius called it a long, mutual relationship working across the product line with partners enrolled in Lenovo's "One Channel' program.

Hortensius thanked the channel for its contribution to the ThinkPad line over the years.