Vizio is an American designer of

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

soundbar A soundbar, sound bar or media bar is a type of loudspeaker that projects audio from a wide enclosure. It is much wider than it is tall, partly for acoustic reasons, and partly so it can be mounted above or below a display device (e.g. above ...

s, and related software and accessories owned by

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

since 2024. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

.Lawton, Christopher, Iwatani Kane, Yukari and Dean, Jason
U.S. Upstart Takes On TV Giants in Price War
", ''The Wall Street Journal'', April 15, 2008. Retrieved on April 15, 2008.

History

The company was founded in 2002 as V Inc. by entrepreneur William Wang and two founding employees. By 2004, Wang changed the company name to Vizio. In 2006, the company's revenue was estimated at $700 million, and in 2007 it was estimated to have exceeded $2 billion. Vizio is known for selling its HDTVs at lower prices than its competitors. In late 2014, Vizio acquired Advanced Media Research Group, Inc., the parent of entertainment website

BuddyTV BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profile ...

. On July 24, 2015, Vizio filed with U.S. regulators to raise up to $172.5 million in an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

of Class A

common stock Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other C ...

. In August 2015, Vizio acquired Cognitive Media Networks, Inc, a provider of

automatic content recognition Automatic content recognition (ACR) is a technology used to identify content played on a media device or presented within a media file. Devices with ACR can allow for the collection of content consumption information automatically at the screen or ...

(ACR). Cognitive Media Networks was subsequently renamed Inscape Data. Inscape functioned as an independent entity until the end of 2020, when it was combined with Vizio Ads and SmartCast; the three divisions combining to operate as a single unit. On July 26, 2016, Chinese electronics company

LeEco LeEco () is a List of companies of China, Chinese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded by Jia Yueting, the founder of Le.com (formerly LeTV). The group maintains businesses in Video on demand, video streaming, cloud services, software d ...

announced that it would acquire Vizio for US$2 billion; however, the acquisition was canceled in April 2017 after the Chinese government blocked the merger amid a larger government crackdown on major foreign acquisition by domestic Chinese firms. Vizio and LeEco settled a lawsuit regarding payment of the

breakup fee A breakup fee (sometimes called a termination fee) is a penalty set in takeover agreements, to be paid if the target backs out of a deal (usually because it has decided instead to accept a more attractive offer). The breakup fee is ostensibly to co ...

. In 2018, Vizio launched a free streaming service called WatchFree, powered by

Pluto TV Pluto TV is an American free ad-supported streaming television service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Founded by Tom Ryan (business executive), Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in ...

, on its SmartCast platform. Vizio was the second largest seller of

flat-panel display A flat-panel display (FPD) is an electronic visual display, electronic display used to display device, display visual content such as text or images. It is present in consumer, medical, transportation, and industrial equipment. Flat-panel disp ...

televisions in the US. By March 2021, the company sold over 11 million

s and 80 million TVs, and has more than 12 million active SmartCast accounts. In March 2021, Vizio became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

via an

. Effective December 2021, Bill Baxter resigned as chief technology officer. In February 2024, retailer corporation Walmart announced plans to acquire Vizio for $2.3 billion. Following regulatory approval, the transaction was completed on December 3. The acquisition enables Walmart to "shore up its advertising business and create a more potent rival to Amazon’s booming ad business."

Products

Vizio manufactures its products in Mexico, China, and Vietnam under agreements with ODM assemblers.

Televisions

Televisions are Vizio's primary product category, and in 2007 the company became the largest

LCD TV A liquid-crystal-display television (LCD TV) is a television set that uses a liquid-crystal display to produce images. It is by far the most widely produced and sold type of television display. LCD TVs are thin and light, but have some disadvanta ...

seller (by volume) in North America. In February 2009, Vizio announced they would stop production of plasma televisions and would focus on the LED-backlit LCD displays . In March 2016, Vizio announced the release of SmartCast TVs that allowed users to control the screen from a tablet or mobile app. The following year, Vizio relaunched its smart TV platform to include apps directly on the screen, including

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

and

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. In 2018, Vizio released its first Quantum Dot LED 4K TV. Vizio has added functionality for

Google Assistant Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on home automation and mobile devices. Based on artificial intelligence, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations, unlike ...

and

Alexa Alexa may refer to: Technology *Amazon Alexa, a virtual assistant developed by Amazon * Alexa Internet, a defunct website ranking and traffic analysis service * Alexa Fluor, a family of fluorescent dyes * Arri Alexa, a digital motion picture ca ...

-enabled devices, Apple Airplay2, Apple HomeKit and gaming features for its SmartCast TVs.

Sound bars

Vizio's sound bar products are named by series, including the V-Series, M-Series, and Elevate. Series names pair with suggested TV products. In 2013, Vizio released the Home Theater Sound Bar, a surround sound home audio system." In 2018, the company released its first

Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...

soundbars. In 2020, Vizio released the Elevate soundbar, the first Atmos soundbar with rotating speakers. At CES 2020, Vizio earned the CES innovation award product designation for the Elevate sound bar. Vizio's audio collection includes entry and mid-level sound bars that include surround sound, as well as premium versions.

SmartCast

SmartCast is the operating system/platform that Vizio uses in all their smart TVs. It uses both

Chromecast Chromecast is a discontinued line of digital media players developed by Google. The devices, designed as small dongles, can play Internet-streaming media, streamed audio-visual content on a high-definition television or home audio system. The u ...

and Apple AirPlay. In June 2021 Vizio updated SmartCast with a Vizio voice feature. The platform allows access to a limited number of streaming apps like

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

and

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

Past products

Vizio has previously produced other products in addition to televisions and soundbars. In 2011, Vizio introduced the Via Tablet and Via Phone, its first tablet and mobile phone products. The following year, Vizio began producing laptops, creating a lineup of PC computers that came in ultrabook and notebook models. Also in 2012, Vizio introduced several HD

Android smartphones This is a list of devices that run on Android (operating system), Android, an open source operating system for smartphones and other devices. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X ...

in Asian markets, including China, and began selling the "Vizio Co-Star," a Google TV digital media player. In 2013, the company released the Vizio Tablet PC, its first Windows 8 tablet. The company stopped producing tablets and computers in 2014.

Legal issues

In November 2015, the

U.S. Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It shares jurisdiction over fe ...

(FTC) and Office of the

New Jersey Attorney General The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confi ...

brought charges against Vizio, alleging it collected non-personal information on its customers and sold it to advertisers. In February 2017, Vizio agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle the charges. The settlement required Vizio to delete the data it had captured and update its data collection practices. After the settlement, the company only collected data from TV units that opted in through disclosures. In October 2021, Vizio was sued by the

Software Freedom Conservancy Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc. (also known as "Conservancy") is an organization that provides a Nonprofit organization, non-profit home, infrastructure support, and legal support for free software, free and open source software projects. The ...

for violations of the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...

by failing to provide source code. SFC stated in the lawsuit that Vizio was "not providing and technical information that

copyleft Copyleft is the legal technique of granting certain freedoms over copies of copyrighted works with the requirement that the same rights be preserved in derivative works. In this sense, ''freedoms'' refers to the use of the work for any purpose, ...

licenses require, Vizio was not even informing its customers about copylefted software and the rights it gives them as consumers." On November 29, 2021, Vizio filed a request to remove the case into US federal court. On May 13, 2022, federal district court judge

Josephine Staton Josephine Laura Staton (born 1961) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Early life and education Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Staton graduated from Lindbergh High School ...

sided with SFC and granted a motion to send the lawsuit back to

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

, to answer breach-of-contract claims. A trial is expected in September 2025.

Sponsorships

In October 2010, Vizio signed a 4-year contract to sponsor the annual

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Rose Bowl Game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, traditionally played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl (stadium), Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, beginning with the

2011 Rose Bowl The 2011 Rose Bowl was the 97th edition of the annual bowl game played on January 1, 2011, as part of the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Played in Pasadena, California, the TCU Horned Frogs of the Mountain West Conference defeated t ...

and ending with the 2014 BCS National Championship Game. When the Rose Bowl contract ended, Vizio signed a contract to sponsor the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area since 1971. From its beginning until 2006, the game was hosted at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has be ...

References

External links

* {{Home theater PC (application software) 2002 establishments in California 2021 initial public offerings 2024 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 2002 Audio equipment manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Irvine, California Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Computer hardware companies Computer systems companies Consumer electronics brands Electronics companies established in 2002 Electronics companies of the United States Loudspeaker manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles Video equipment manufacturers Walmart