What was the first product that IBM sold to the public?

The first product that IBM sold to the public was calculating machines. International Business Machines, or IBM, was launched in 1911. Then the business was called the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company.

Founder Charles Ranlett Flint did not create the C-T-R Company out of nothing. Instead it was formed by the merger of three companies that had existed since the late 1800s: the Computing Scale Company, the Tabulating Machine Company, and the Time Recording Company. The newly merged firm was based in New York City with about 1,300 total employees. (By comparison, IBM now employs around 350,000 people.)

In the early years, the C-T-R Company focused on products such as accounting and calculating machines, time recorders for businesses, and mechanical punch card systems. In 1924, Thomas Watson took charge of the company and renamed it International Business Machines, or IBM. In his first several years Watson built IBM’s success through business and marketing strategies. He created products built around individual customers and their needs for keeping business records and calculating costs (expenses) and profits. He would invest heavily in the company’s sales force.

In the 1920s and 1930s, IBM began its growth into a household name. It launched the public address system used by schools, which quickly became a staple in the American classroom. Today, IBM operates in over 174 countries. It is best known for selling small electronics and big mainframe computer systems.