Vizio

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Not to be confused with Microsoft Visio.
VIZIO Inc.
Private
Industry Consumer electronics
Founded Costa Mesa, California, U.S. (2002)
Headquarters Irvine, California, U.S.
Key people
 William Wang (Founder/CEO) Matt McRae (CTO)
Products AV electronics; LCD TVs, surround sound systems, HDTV accessories, LCD computer monitors, Laptops, all-in-one personal computers, telecommunications
Revenue $3.1 billion (2014)[1]
Slogan Beautifully Simple.
Website www.vizio.com

VIZIO is an American privately held company making consumer electronics, based in Irvine, California. It was founded in October 2002 as V Inc. and is best known as a producer of affordable flat screen televisions.[2]

History

The company started in 2002 as V Inc. by William Wang, Laynie Newsome, and Ken Lowe with $600,000 and three employees. In 2006 the revenue was estimated around $700 million, and in 2007 it was estimated to have exceeded $2 billion. VIZIO is known for aggressively pricing their HDTVs against major competitors.[2]

On October 19, 2010, VIZIO signed a 4-year contract to sponsor college football's annual Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California, beginning with the 2011 Rose Bowl presented by VIZIO and ending with the 2014 VIZIO BCS National Championship Game.[3] When the Rose Bowl contract ended, VIZIO signed a contract to sponsor the Fiesta Bowl making the official name the VIZIO Fiesta Bowl.

As of 2012, VIZIO has over 400 employees.[4] About half work at its headquarters in Irvine, California, in engineering, design, sales, and operations, while the other half are employed at a call center in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota.[4][5]

VIZIO also manufactures its products in Mexico and China under agreements with ODM assemblers in those countries.[6]

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. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities and Citigroup are among the underwriters of the IPO, VIZIO told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a preliminary prospectus. The filing did not reveal how many shares the company planned to sell or their expected price. The company has applied to list its Class A common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “VZIO.”[7]

Products

Television sets

VIZIO primarily produces television sets. VIZIO became the largest LCD TV seller (by volume) in North America for the second quarter of 2007, with 606,402 TVs sold, a 76% jump from the previous quarter. Its market share increased from 9.4% to 14.5%.[8] In September 2003, VIZIO started selling LCD TVs to Costco in Japan. In February 2009, VIZIO announced they would stop production of plasma televisions and would focus on the LED-backlit LCD displays instead.[9] At the CES 2009, VIZIO introduced a 240 Hz LED-backlit VF551XVT 55" LCD TV.

VIZIO unveiled a new range of televisions including VIZIO's M line with 65" screens; ultra-wide televisions with 50", 58", and 71" screen sizes; two all-in-one desktop computers (24" and 27"); three notebooks (one 14" and two 15"); and a 10" tablet at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show.[10][11]

VIZIO "Smart TV" sets track viewers' habits and share them with advertisers, a practice that cable TV companies are prohibited from doing but that VIZIO says is legal for TV manufacturers.[12]

VIZIO also produces other audio/video equipment such as High Definition Surround Sound systems, LCD monitors and HDTV accessories. The company released its first Blu-ray Disc player in August 2009.[13] In 2011 VIZIO extended its portfolio of electronics devices to mobile phones, with the name Via Phone, and tablets, named Via Tablet. The new phones and tablets were shown at 2011 Consumer Electronics Show.[14] See specifics below.

Tablets

  • VTAB1008: 8.1" × 6.6" × 0.48" thick. 1024x768 resolution[15]
  • VIZIO Tablet PC: 11.6", 1080p, dual-core AMD Z60, Windows 8[16]

Ultrabook

In 2012 VIZIO introduced its 14-inch ultrabook VIZIO CT14 with the third generation Intel Core i7 processors and 128 GB SSD.[17] On October 2012 VIZIO updated this series with a new Windows 8 OS. This change was also applied to the VIZIO notebook series.

Mobile phones

VIZIO also introduced several new full 1080p HD Android smartphones in the Asian markets, but particularly China.[18] The devices feature high-end specs, with the 5-inch VP800 featuring 32 GB RAM, Full HD Display, and 8MP camera. The more budget-oriented VP600 features a dual-core processor, 4.7-inch 720p HD display, and Android Jelly Bean OS.[19] VIZIO announced these developments in a press release; however, past media releases show that this is not VIZIO's first product in the mobile telephony sector.[20]

Google TV

The company introduced the "VIZIO Co-Star" a Google TV digital media player, in 2012.[21]

Sound bars

A VIZIO sound bar (model: S3821w) was recommended by Consumer Reports as its "Best Buy" (based on a combination of quality and price) in a comparison of competing sound bars dated January 2014.[22]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/companies/vizio/
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lawton, Christopher, Iwatani Kane, Yukari and Dean, Jason."U.S. Upstart Takes On TV Giants in Price War", The Wall Street Journal, 2008-04-15. Retrieved on April 15, 2008.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/12/21/vizio-ceo-predicts-declining-tv-prices-possible-ipo/
  7. ↑ http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=vizio+Holdings&owner=exclude&action=getcompany
  8. ↑ VIZIO tops in LCD TV sales in second quarter at CNET.com
  9. ↑ Another Manufacturer Drops Plasma
  10. ↑ Vizio Plans to Beat PC's "Sleepy Giants" at Their Own Game
  11. ↑ The New Vizio PCs and Notebooks Are Worthy of Apple
  12. ↑ Own a Vizio Smart TV? It's watching you
  13. ↑ Vizio's VBR100 Blu-ray player delayed until August
  14. ↑ Vizio Extends Battle Plan
  15. ↑ Vizio Tablet VTAB1008 Review: A Pleasant Surprise at a Value Price- PC World Magazine
  16. ↑ http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/06/vizio-tablet-pc-windows-8-tablet/ Vizio debuts its first Windows 8 tablet
  17. ↑ Vizio Ultrabook[dead link]
  18. ↑ Vizio shows off new HD smartphones for China
  19. ↑ Vizio unveils two HD Android smartphones – but only for China
  20. ↑ VIZIO Unveils New Smartphone and Tablet Featuring VIA Plus for Even More...
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Consumer Reports webpage.

External links

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