It is an acronym for International Business Machines, the world’s largest computer company. Founded in 1911, produced punched-card accounting machines for businesses. In the mid-1950s, the company developed mainframe computers that interfaced with its punched-card tabulating equipment and led the development of a massive business data processing industry.
After dominating the mainframe market in the 1960s and 1970s, they faced stiff competition from minicomputers in the mid-to-late 1970s, and failed to capitalize on the introduction of its influential first personal computer, the PC, which was released in 1981; the result was a series of devastating losses that led some industry observers to question the company’s ability to survive.