
Vizio

Vizio Inc. (stylized as VIZIO) is an American publicly traded company that designs and sells televisions and sound bars. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Irvine, California, United States.
History.
The company was founded in 2002 as V Inc. by entrepreneur William Wang, with Laynie Newsome and Ken Lowe as founding employees. By 2004, Wang changed the company name to Vizio.
In 2006, the company's revenue was estimated at around $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.
On October 19, 2010, Vizio signed a 4-year contract to sponsor U.S. college football's annual Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California, beginning with the 2011 Rose Bowl and ending with the 2014 Vizio BCS National Championship Game. When the Rose Bowl contract ended, Vizio signed a contract to sponsor the Fiesta Bowl making the official name the Vizio Fiesta Bowl.
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; however, the IPO was never completed.
In August 2015, Vizio acquired Cognitive Media Networks, Inc, a provider of automatic content recognition (ACR). Cognitive Media Networks was subsequently renamed Inscape Data.
In November 2015, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Office of the New Jersey Attorney General 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. Additionally, 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.
On July 26, 2016, Chinese electronics company LeEco announced that it would acquire Vizio for US$2 billion; however, the acquisition was cancelled in April 2017.
From the year 2016 onwards, Vizio launched its SmartCast across all television sets including apps such as Netflix, YouTube and Disney+.
In 2018, Vizio launched a free streaming service called WatchFree, powered by Pluto TV, on its SmartCast platform.
As of 2021, Vizio had 527 employees across the U.S. in states including California, South Dakota, Washington, Arkansas, Minnesota, Texas, and New York.
In March 2021, Vizio filed for an IPO.
Products.
Vizio produces television sets and soundbars and has previously produced tablets, mobile phones and computers. Vizio manufactures its products in Mexico, China, and Vietnam under agreements with ODM assemblers in those countries.
Television sets.
Television sets 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 Airplay2, Apple HomeKit and gaming features for its SmartCast TVs.
In 2020, Vizio released its first OLED TV.
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. 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.
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.