A plausible theory is that "IBM" has been coined in such a way so that each letter was superior to the corresponding letter from "NCR", its main competitor in t

A plausible theory is that "IBM" has been coined in such a way so that each letter was superior to the corresponding letter from "NCR", its main competitor in the past. National => International Cash => Business Register => Machines So each word in IBM was more generic and more widely encompassing than its correspondent in NCR.