The ThinkPad, originally launched by International Business Machines (IBM) in 1992, was acquired by Lenovo along with IBM's PC division in 2005. Despite becoming thinner and lighter, the laptop's boxy design, inspired by the Japanese bento box, has seen little alteration.

The logo, with its distinctive red dot over the "i" in "Think" added in 2005, remains angled at 37 degrees. The keyboard still features the small, red trackpoint nestled between the "B," "G," and "H" keys, a feature some users swear by while others never use.

Ports and camera placement have remained consistent, and the laptop predominantly retains its original black colour.

Lenovo's strategy of maintaining a consistent design might seem counterintuitive. Companies like BlackBerry, Nokia, and Motorola, which once dominated the early 2000s, struggled to keep pace with competitors. However, Lenovo's approach has paid off in the enterprise space.

According to research firm Gartner, Lenovo has led the market in worldwide personal computer vendor market share, based on unit shipments, for over a decade. Its leading market share for this year’s second quarter was 24.4 per cent, trailed by HP with 22.6 per cent and Dell with 16.7 per cent.

According to the Wall Street Journal even after this length of time corporates say nice things about their Thinkpads.

“The Lenovo devices physically just are not sexy. They look a little bit dated compared to what Dell and HP have to offer these days,” said John Wei, CTO of technology provider Integreon. “But IT guys—we like Lenovo.”

 He added: “People put coffee over it. It doesn’t die. People drop it when they travel. It doesn’t die.”