Vizio Expanding into the Computer Market

Vizio, a brand known for their low-cost high definition televisions, announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that it will be expanding its current product line to include a new set of computers.

The privately held Irvine, Calif., company, was founded in October 2002 as V Inc. Vizio’s major partner in the consumer electronics area is AmTran Technology, a Taiwan-based OEM/ODM that manufactures more than half of the televisions sold by Vizio. Vizio became the largest LCD TV seller in North America in 2007 and has become a competitor in the market mainly due to their aggressively low television prices. Vizio is now looking for similar success in the computer market.

The computer line, featuring Microsoft (News - Alert) Windows 7, will sport two all-in-one desktop PCs as well as three notebook models. Chief Technology Officer Matt McRae said, “Our new line of VIzio PC’s are truly high quality and consumer focused, delivering enhanced multimedia capabilities while upholding our high standards of performance, style, and design.”

McRae said the personal computers would include a 24-inch and a 27-inch desktop choice with roughly the same features and a pair of 15.6-inch laptops and one 14-inch notebook.

Although, McRae has faced some criticism for his move into manufacturing computers, he said he is not worried. “Vizio’s been called crazy since we launched the company almost ten years ago.” McRae added, “There are several players [in the PC market], not a lot of innovation. Most people have moved their innovation engines into other products like tablets,” McRae said.

Vizio feels it needed to fill an area of the technological market that has been ignored in the past few years. “We looked at the product line and say, ‘This is going to be as important to a consumer in the future as it is today,’ and the way people are using that product is actually expanding, it’s not contracting…People come home and they’ll use their PC for email, but they’re also using it for entertainment experiences like content, music, video, and other things. So as it expands, we believe the PC actually becomes a more important component of that entertainment ecosystem across different platforms,” said McRae.

The new line of budget-friendly computers will become available in the United States sometime this spring.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO. Follow us on Twitter.