# International Business Machines Corporation  ## Metadata - Author: [[britannica.com]] - Full Title: International Business Machines Corporation - Category: #articles - Summary: International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a leading American computer manufacturer founded in 1911. It initially excelled in punch-card tabulating systems and later became a major player in mainframe computers and personal computers. In recent years, IBM has shifted focus to computer services, software, and supercomputers, holding over 40,000 active patents. - URL: https://www.britannica.com/money/International-Business-Machines-Corporation ## Highlights - By the 1960s it was producing 70 percent of the world’s computers and 80 percent of those used in the United States. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01j687hcmn14mv56h64adk4537)) - The company did not enter the growing market for personal computers until 1981, when it introduced the IBM Personal Computer. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01j687hx40mdtnc6rez767dbq4)) - New semiconductor-chip–based technologies were making computers smaller and easier to manufacture, allowing smaller companies to enter the field and exploit new developments such as workstations, computer networks, and [computer graphics](https://www.britannica.com/topic/computer-graphics). IBM’s enormous size hindered it from responding rapidly to these accelerating rates of technological change, and by the 1990s the company had downsized considerably. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01j687jm48vjnka0bj9c25bjxp))