Originally established in 1911 under the name Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), IBM decided to shake things up in 1924 and rebranded to the powerhouse house we know today. With a name that boldly declares its vision, IBM, short for International Business Machines, spent its formative years dominating the market—ranging from electric typewriters to electromechanical calculators (IBM created the first subtracting calculator) and personal computers. IBM also played a pivotal role in the development of many tech innovations including the automated teller machine (ATM), the SQL programming language, the floppy disk, and the hard disk drive.
By the mid-90s. the IBM mainframe stood as the unrivalled computing powerhouse and the brand boasted an impressive 80% market share of computers in the U.S. Yet, by 1992, IBM’s market share plummeted to a concerning 20%.
The root cause of IBM's decline can be traced back to the intense competition it faced in the personal computer market. Despite creating an impressive PC with features like 16 KB of RAM, a 16-bit CPU, and two floppy drives, IBM failed to foresee the soaring demand for personal computers. This miscalculation allowed rival companies such as Apple, Epson, and more to enter the scene, offering cheaper alternatives and creating a market where IBM was no longer in control.
