Lenovo: Foldable ThinkPad X1 to Launch in 2020
by Anton Shilov on October 21, 2019 3:00 PM EST
At Canalys Channels Forum last week, Lenovo finally revealed launch timeframe for its foldable ThinkPad X1 hybrid notebook that was first revealed in May. The company says that the machine is ready from hardware standpoint, but it needs its software partners to polish off their programs for the innovative unit.
Lenovo’s foldable ThinkPad X1 features a 13.3-inch OLED display featuring a ‘2K’ resolution that can be folded in half to fit it into a small bag. The hybrid notebook can be used in tablet, book, and clamshell modes to serve different purposes. It can also be attached to a stand or a dock for workloads that require a mechanical keyboard and a mouse. The foldable ThinkPad X1 uses an undisclosed Intel processor as well as Microsoft’s Windows operating system and is therefore compatible with a wide variety of software applications.
Image by Laptop Mag
Milanka Muecke, director of global commercial communications and brand at Lenovo, described the foldable ThinkPad X1 device as a fully-fledged PC that fits in the palm of a hand:
“I have it right here and you can have it in your purse. It looks like a leather bound notebook that you can carry with you all day long, but it is a full performance PC that fits in the palm of your hand.”
Lenovo now expects to ship its foldable ThinkPad in the second quarter of 2020, though it is unclear when it will be revealed from April to June (Note, June is Computex). From the hardware standpoint, the product is sound, but software still needs certain fixes, according to Gianfrano Lanci, COO of Lenovo:
“It will start shipping probably Q2 next year. […] Hardware is ready, but we need to still fix certain things from a software point of view and that does not depend 100% on us.”
The high-ranking executive of Lenovo does not expect foldable ThinkPad X1 to be an immediate bestseller (probably because of price and other factors), but as a new form-factor it will enable Lenovo to tap into emerging market segments. One of the obvious segments that the foldable ThinkPad X1 will address will be high-performance tablets like Apple’s iPad Pro. Meanwhile, Lenovo will ship its device several months before Microsoft’s launch of dual-screen Surface Neo that targets the same segment.
Related Reading:
- Lenovo Launches ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7: Thinner, Lighter, Comet Lake Inside
- Lenovo’s 2019 ThinkPad X1 Yoga: An Ultralight Convertible with Comet Lake
- Lenovo Unveils ThinkPad P1 Gen 2: New 15.6-Inch Carbon Fiber Chassis
- Lenovo Unveils ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2: New CPU, GPU, OLED Display Option
Sources: The Register, Laptop Mag, TechRadar
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timecop1818 - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
This looks even more useless than Galaxy Fold.PeachNCream - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
Maybe of one half or the other of the screen could be used to display a keyboard that would make it semi-productive in a cumbersome way that makes you want to just connect a physical keyboard, but I doubt this will be priced reasonably or offer anything more than fad-wiz-bang-imaginary-status for people that want to impress others more than accomplish useful tasks with their compute hardware.timecop1818 - Tuesday, October 22, 2019 - link
Lenovo already Yoga Book C930 with e-paper bottom screen which can display a keyboard to "type" on. I tried it at Costco and it was terrible.wr3zzz - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
When price is right I would like to have a 2x 3:2, i.e 1920x2560 that can be folded into a standard ~13-15" letter size form factor vertically for mobility but docking horizontally as a ~24-27" all-in-one.13.3" at foldout is just useless. Too small for road warriors and no man purse carrying hipster trust fund baby would want to be seen with a Windows tablet, other than ironically as a one time thing.
close - Tuesday, October 22, 2019 - link
If it's anything like the Galaxy Fold, that crease/warping down the center will be very obvious when the screen is unfolded and flat. To me that warp would be such an annoyance that I'd rather have a bezel in the middle. De gustibus.ABR - Tuesday, October 22, 2019 - link
It's not a notebook, but rather a pro-sized Windows tablet that folds up. There's a reason they're struggling on the software side...0siris - Tuesday, October 22, 2019 - link
This goes against everything ThinkPads used to stand for. Fragile screen, unusable when your hands are wet or greasy, probably an absolute nightmare to repair. I really don't understand why they included it in this series, but I just see this as (further) tacit admission that they don't see ThinkPads the same way as ThinkPad customers used to see them.sharath.naik - Tuesday, October 22, 2019 - link
There is no point in a bendable screen in anything larger than a phone. The only reason you even consider a bendable screen is if the screen is too small and you need one larger one, even that is debatable if you can get the bezels small enough. Microsoft has gotten it rightbest2in1laptopunder - Tuesday, August 18, 2020 - link
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