Short for
International Business Machines, the largest computer company in the world. IBM started in 1911 as a producer of punch card tabulating machines. In 1953, it introduced its first computer, the
701. During the 60's and 70's, IBM came to dominate the new field of
mainframe and minicomputers. In 1981, IBM launched its first
personal computer, called the
IBM PC, which quickly became the standard. However, IBM underestimated the market for PCs and lost market share to vendors of PC compatibles, such as
Compaq.