Lenovo: ThinkPad X1 Fold with foldable screen sells better than expected, 1080p webcams in future ThinkPad laptops

Exhibitions like CES are especially interesting for the media if they are able to get background-info from the manufacturers. Getting to talk with managers at events can provide journalists with valuable behind the scenes informations.

At the moment, this is not possible, as trade fairs are either cancelled or in virtual form. This makes interviews even more precious. The online magazine CRN has gotten an interview with a Lenovo manager. CRN is specialized on the reseller market and the Lenovo manager they interviewed was Matthew Zielinski, Lenovo US president of the 'Intelligent devices' group.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold: Foldable PC exceeds expectations

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, the first PC with a foldable screen, is on the market since the fourth quarter of 2020 (available from Amazon). Even before it went on sale, Lenovo lowered expectations - after all, this was a completely new category and a very expensive PC, too. In the USA, the X1 Fold would cost at least $2,500. For this much, one could only buy the base version without 5G or any accessories.

According to Zielinski, Lenovo was took by surprise by the sales success thus far. The average resale price of $3,000 also suggests that many customers choose the more expensive versions.

This might mean that we will see more foldable PCs in the future. The Lenovo manager says that customers are requesting a bigger version of the ThinkPad X1 Fold and software support should improve in the future, too - Zielinski is probably refering to Windows 10X.

Webcams: Future ThinkPads with better cameras

The webcams of all but a few recent laptops are bad; despite the home-office and video-conferencing boom. This applies to the Lenovo laptops of the ThinkPad series as well. Their 720p cams are barely good enough to produce a clear picture.

In accordance with customer feedback, Lenovo wants to change this in the future. The webcams will be upgraded to 1080p according to Zielinski. Until this happens, Lenovo will try to improve the current webcams with post-processing. A precise date for ThinkPads with 1080p webcams was not divulged. Since the new 2021 ThinkPad flagship Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 still features a 720p camera, we would guess that the 2022 ThinkPads will introduce better cameras.