The business world’s favorite laptop has barely changed in 30 years

“There’s a lot to be said for familiarity and that consistent experience," said Ace Hardware Chief Information Officer Rick Williams, whose company uses about 4,000 ThinkPads.

The ThinkPad brand of personal computers, originally created by International Business Machines, hit the market in 1992 before Lenovo acquired it, along with IBM’s PC division, in 2005. Since then, the boxy design—originally inspired by the Japanese bento box—has gotten thinner and lighter, but not much else has changed from a design perspective, Lenovo said.

The logo is the same, although in 2005 Lenovo did add the red dot over the “i" in “Think" that remains today. That logo has remained angled at 37 degrees on the device. And on the keyboard the small, red, old-timey trackpoint remains nestled between the “B," “G" and “H" keys (which Lenovo says some users swear by and some CIOs say they never use). Ports and camera placement have also been relatively consistent. And despite some experimentation with colors, the laptop itself primarily remains its original black.

“You’re going to recognize the iconic ThinkPad," said Tom Butler, executive director for worldwide commercial portfolio and product management at Hong Kong-based Lenovo.

Its strategy might seem counterintuitive in an industry where winners and losers are often determined based on their pace of innovation, and where to stay the same often means to become obsolete. Big consumer tech companies that dominated the early 2000s, like BlackBerry, Nokia and Motorola, ultimately couldn’t keep pace with competitors and struggled.

But for Lenovo, which plays in the enterprise space, it’s paying off. Lenovo has been leading in market share in the worldwide personal computer vendor market, based on unit shipments, on and off for more than 10 years, according to research firm Gartner. Its leading market share for this year’s second quarter was 24.4%, trailed by HP with 22.6% and Dell with 16.7%, based on preliminary findings.

A Dell representative said that many rivals have high unit share in the lower-price bands of the market and in emerging regions, but Dell continues to focus on high-value segments. HP didn’t respond to a request for comment.

An IBM brand from the 1910s

Early on, Lenovo banked on the cachet of IBM’s “Think" slogan, which was introduced by former IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson in the 1910s and became synonymous with trusted products, said Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group. (“No one ever gets fired for buying IBM," was a common refrain through the 2000s).

Even as other hot technology brands of the early 2000s lost cachet, the ThinkPad brand retained it, thanks to a loyal user base that rose up the ranks of companies and ultimately landed in C-suite decision-maker roles, Enderle said.

But unlike consumer-focused tech companies, which gain followings through captivating innovations, the ThinkPad’s cachet is in large part thanks to the consistency of its design, which resonates with large, change-resistant legacy companies that simply want an offering that’s familiar and dependable, said Enderle. For corporate tech leaders, too much change in a go-to product like a PC simply equals cost and aggravation, he said.

Enderle said that HP, Dell and others have played around with curvier designs and different keyboard types, and have been more aggressive about updating ports.

Reliable and resilient

“It operates without most of our users having to think about it," said Ace Hardware’s Williams, who added that the company has been using Lenovo as its primary PC vendor for nearly two decades. “It’s reliable. People assign a lot of weight to having technology that’s reliable."

Lenovo’s ThinkPad is known for its resiliency. Butler said the company regularly puts the laptop through “torture tests" that includes falls and extreme temperatures.

“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."

Some CIOs also say the timeless design helps reduce conflict among workers with older or newer devices.

“Because they don’t radically change designs, people that might have a laptop model from two to three years ago—they’re not feeling like they’re left in the dust," said David Vidoni, CIO of software company Pegasystems.

Another factor propelling Lenovo is that it has more of a global footprint than its competitors, meaning companies with global operations can find consistent device support around the world, said Enderle.

Lenovo reported $57 billion in revenue in its fiscal year ended in March, and has about 70,000 employees worldwide. Its primary remit is in devices and personal computers, but it also has a growing software arm.

Modest changes

The laptop you find at Best Buy today isn’t exactly the same as the one IBM brought to market in 1992. Lenovo has quietly made small improvements over the years, focusing on the types of changes that won’t be disruptive to the user, Butler said. For example, today’s generation of laptops has slightly raised marks on more areas of the keyboard for the visually impaired. Butler said he sometimes challenges users to see if they even notice the tweaks.

And of course, the processing capabilities of the computers have grown significantly, culminating in the AI PCs that hit the market this year that can run artificial intelligence algorithms directly on the device. CIOs remain mixed on when and how they plan to use these.

As far as future improvements, Butler said he has his ear to the ground and is constantly speaking with CIOs to understand what they want to get out of the device. But, he added, it’s important to remember: “One thing that the enterprise wants is predictable and consistent."

Write to Isabelle Bousquette at isabelle.bousquette@wsj.com