Vizio, Inc. is an American designer of televisions, soundbars, and related software and accessories owned by Walmart since 2024. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Irvine, California.
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. On July 24, 2015, Vizio filed with U.S. regulators to raise up to $172.5 million in an initial public offering of Class A common stock. In August 2015, Vizio acquired Cognitive Media Networks, Inc, a provider of automatic content recognition (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 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. In 2018, Vizio launched a free streaming service called WatchFree, powered by Pluto TV, on its SmartCast platform. As of 2020, Vizio was the second largest seller of flat-panel display televisions in the US. By March 2021, the company sold over 11 million soundbars and 80 million TVs, and has more than 12 million active SmartCast accounts. In March 2021, Vizio became a public company via an initial public offering. Effective December 2021, Bill Baxter resigned as chief technology officer. In February 2024, retailer corporation Walmart announced plans to acquire VIZIO Holding Corp. for $2.3 billion. Following regulatory approval, the transaction was completed on December 3 with VIZIO Holding Corp. and Vizio, Inc. becoming wholly owned subsidiaries. The acquisition enables Walmart to "shore up its advertising business and create a more potent rival to Amazon’s booming ad business." By July 2025, Bloomberg News reported that Walmart was ending sales of Vizio products at Amazon.com and Best Buy as part of a larger plan to transition Vizio into a private label brand available only at Walmart or Sam's Club locations by the end of 2025.
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 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 and Netflix. In 2018, Vizio released its first Quantum Dot LED 4K TV. Vizio has added functionality for Google Assistant and Alexa-enabled devices, Apple AirPlay 2, 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 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.
Vizio OS Vizio OS is the built-in smart TV platform powering Vizio televisions, formerly known as SmartCast, is the operating system/platform that Vizio uses in all their smart TVs. It uses both Chromecast 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+, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix and Prime Video.
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 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.
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