The company was founded in 2002 as V Inc. by entrepreneurWilliam Wang and two founding employees.[5][6][7] By 2004, Wang changed the company name to Vizio.[8][9]
In 2006, the company's revenue was estimated at $700 million, and in 2007 it was estimated to have exceeded $2 billion.[10] Vizio is known for selling its HDTVs at lower prices than its competitors.[4]
In late 2014, Vizio acquired Advanced Media Research Group, Inc., the parent of entertainment websiteBuddyTV.[11]
In August 2015, Vizio acquired Cognitive Media Networks, Inc, a provider ofautomatic content recognition (ACR).[14] Cognitive Media Networks was subsequently renamedInscape Data.[14] 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.[15]
On July 26, 2016, Chinese electronics companyLeEco announced that it would acquire Vizio for US$2 billion;[16] 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.[17][18][19][20][21] Vizio and LeEco settled a lawsuit regarding payment of thebreakup fee.[22]
In 2018, Vizio launched a free streaming service called WatchFree, powered byPluto TV, on its SmartCast platform.[23][24]
As of 2020,[update] Vizio was the second largest seller offlat-panel display televisions in the US.[25] By March 2021, the company sold over 11 millionsoundbars and 80 million TVs,[26] and has more than 12 million active SmartCast accounts.[27]
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.[33][34][35] The acquisition enables Walmart to "shore up its advertising business and create a more potent rival to Amazon’s booming ad business."[36] By July 2025,Bloomberg News reported that Walmart was ending sales of Vizio products atAmazon.com andBest Buy as part of a larger plan totransition Vizio into aprivate label brand available only at Walmart orSam's Club locations by the end of 2025.[37]
Televisions are Vizio's primary product category, and in 2007 the company became the largestLCD TV seller (by volume) in North America.[39] In February 2009, Vizio announced they would stop production ofplasma televisions and would focus on the LED-backlit LCD displays .[40]
In March 2016, Vizio announced the release of SmartCast TVs that allowed users to control the screen from a tablet or mobile app.[41][42] The following year, Vizio relaunched its smart TV platform to include apps directly on the screen, includingAmazon Prime Video andNetflix.[43][44]In 2018, Vizio released its first Quantum Dot LED 4K TV.[45] Vizio has added functionality forGoogle Assistant andAlexa-enabled devices,Apple AirPlay 2, Apple HomeKit[46] and gaming features for its SmartCast TVs.[44]
V-Series: Smart TV.[47] The V- and D- series come in sizes from 24 to 75 inches and use direct LED backlight.[48]
M-Series Quantum: HDR TV.[49] The 2022 models have local dimming up to 32 zones, and come in sizes from 43 to 75 inches. They are LCD TVs with 4K resolution and standard HDMI 2.0 that support AMD FreeSync.[48]
P-Series Quantum: The 2022 models can reach up to 1200 nits peak brightness.[50][51][48]
P-Series Quantum X: Smart TV.[52] The 2022 models have dimming with 792 zones in the 85-inch model, reaching 3000 nits peak brightness.[48]
OLED TV: In 2020, Vizio released its firstOLED TV.[53] The Vizio OLED uses IQ Ultra image processor and supportsVRR up to 120Hz.[52]
Vizio's sound bar products are named by series, including the V-Series, M-Series, and Elevate. Series names pair with suggested TV products.[54]
In 2013, Vizio released the Home Theater Sound Bar, a surround sound home audio system."[55][56] In 2018, the company released its firstDolby Atmos soundbars.[57] In 2020, Vizio released the Elevate soundbar, the first Atmos soundbar with rotating speakers.[56] At CES 2020, Vizio earned the CES innovation award product designation for the Elevate sound bar.[58]
Vizio's audio collection includes entry and mid-level sound bars that include surround sound, as well as premium versions.[59]
V-Series:[60][61] The V-Series for 2022 supports the standard version of "audio return channel" or ARC. The V51x-J6 has 5.1-channel audio.[62]
M-Series:Mid-range sound bars.[60][63][64] The 2022 model M512a-H6 is a 5.1.2-channel sound bar. It has surround speakers that connect to a wireless sound bar and upfiring drivers have height cues forDolby Atmos andDTS:X soundtracks, and has eARC support.[62]
Vizio OS, formerly known as SmartCast, is the operating system/platform that Vizio uses in all their smart TVs.[65][66] It uses bothChromecast andApple AirPlay.[67][68] In June 2021 Vizio updated SmartCast with a Vizio voice feature. The platform allows access to a limited number of streaming apps likeApple TV+,Disney+,Hulu,Netflix andPrime Video.[69][70]
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.[71] The following year, Vizio began producing laptops, creating a lineup of PC computers that came in ultrabook and notebook models.[72] Also in 2012, Vizio introduced several HDAndroid smartphones in Asian markets, including China,[73] and began selling the "Vizio Co-Star," aGoogle TV digital media player.[74] In 2013, the company released the Vizio Tablet PC, its first Windows 8 tablet.[75] The company stopped producing tablets and computers in 2014.[76]
In November 2015, theU.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Office of theNew Jersey Attorney General brought charges against Vizio, alleging it collected non-personal information on its customers and sold it to advertisers.[77][78] In February 2017, Vizio agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle the charges.[79][80][81][82] 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.[83]
In October 2021, Vizio was sued by theSoftware Freedom Conservancy for violations of theGNU General Public License by failing to provide source code.[84] SFC stated in the lawsuit that Vizio was "not providing and technical information thatcopyleft licenses require, Vizio was not even informing its customers about copylefted software and the rights it gives them as consumers."[85][86] On November 29, 2021, Vizio filed a request to remove the case into US federal court.[87][88] On May 13, 2022, federal district court judgeJosephine Staton sided with SFC and granted a motion to send the lawsuit back toSuperior Court, to answer breach-of-contract claims.[89] A trial was expected on October 6, 2025[85] but was changed to January 12, 2026.[90]
^Beijing, Christopher Lawton in San Francisco, Yukari Iwatani Kane in Tokyo and Jason Dean in (April 16, 2008)."U.S. Upstart Takes On TV Giants in Price War".Wall Street Journal.ISSN0099-9660.Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. RetrievedAugust 20, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
