Walmart considers acquiring Vizio

Walmart’s potential acquisition of Vizio could position the retail giant as a formidable competitor against Amazon and Roku in the streaming and smart TV market

Retail giant Walmart is currently in talks to acquire budget television manufacturer Vizio, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal. This potential $2 billion agreement would position Vizio as an exclusive brand for Walmart, aiming to enter the competitive market of affordable smart TVs currently dominated by Amazon and Roku. 

This move would grant Walmart the opportunity to tap into the valuable customer data accumulated over the years by Vizio’s smart TV platform, creating a new revenue stream through personalized advertisements. Additionally, Walmart could monetize the user data gathered by Vizio devices and utilize Vizio TVs for advertising within its extensive network of approximately 11,000 retail outlets. This strategy mirrors Walmart’s current practice with display televisions through its existing in-house brand, Onn. 

Nevertheless, Roku and Amazon have established a strong presence in the budget-friendly TV sector over the years. While Roku initially focused on streaming devices before transitioning to smart TVs last year, Amazon Fire TVs have achieved widespread adoption, with over 200 million units sold as of 10 months ago. Therefore, if this acquisition proceeds, Walmart faces a challenging task in competing with these established players. 

Chinese media conglomerate LeEco back in 2016, which was another $2 billion deal, but things went south quickly. LeEco, once called the “Netflix of China,” ran into serious financial troubles and backed out of the deal, leaving Vizio in the lurch. 

Assuming the current deal is successful, Vizio will become part of Walmart’s diverse portfolio of tech companies, joining the likes of Vudu, AR optical tech firm Memomi, banking app ONE, as well as various digital retailers such as Shoes.com and Bare Necessities. 

Source: Newsroom