The above picture pretty much explains it all. CompUSA is clearing everything out and here’s your chance to cash in. It’s only the 720p player but when you factor in the seven movies it’s not too bad a deal at $90. But you want the 1080p player don’t you? Yeah, I thought so. There’s even a deal on a 1080p Vizio. Check it out after the jump.
Thanks for sending this in Alex C.
Read More
I’m going to save you the shenenigans and snark by just pasting what Vizio sent us. Essentially, they’ve got 32-inch plasmas for $689 and 50-inchers for $1,399 — 1080p, naturally — and a few new surround sound systems and LCDs. They have a new LCD line called Envy which is a little sexier than the standard line. We’ll hit the booth tomorrow to see what is really up over there.
I know most of you are doing or at least attempting to do your holiday shopping this week or next so here’s a little something to help you in your cause. Wal*Mart is having a secret in-store sale tomorrow at 8AM. Is there anything special in the secret sale? Of course there is. I’ve got my eye on a 50-inch Plasma from Vizio for $998 though, it’s only 720p. There’s a minimum of 1 per store for this item. A 40GB PS3 with a free $50 gift card is $399 with a minimum of 2 per store. A Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD player is $298 with 12 free HD DVDs. Odds are a little better on this one with a minimum of 5 per store. It’s pretty hit or miss on this one, but maybe you’ll get lucky.
OK, when I first got wind of this rumor a couple days ago, I dismissed it. It’s something that I chalked up to background chatter. The thing is, I got a second email today from another source who’s always been right, so now this thing is looking more like a real deal.
Rumormonger One told me that Vizio, you know, the HDTV guys, were getting ready to build hard drives into their TVs. Whatever, wanky wanky. But then Rumormonger Two emails me saying something similar. Not HDs built into the sets, but rather complimentary units that play DVDs, output surround sound, and act as a DVR. I called a source who’s a buyer here in Seattle for a major retailer, and she said she’d heard people talking about something similar, so it’s plausible.
If true, it would be the first non-TV product (other than a few accessories) that Vizio would offer. We know that the scrappy Vizio is the unlikely marketshare leader in HDTVs in the USA. It sounds like its planning on parlaying that success to branch out in more directions, which we’re for: Vizio makes great HDTVs we can actually afford.
We’ve got our sweaty tentacles all up in Vizio’s grill trying to track down more information. We’ll post it up here when we get it.
Quick question: As of today, which company is the top-selling flat panel HDTV brand in the US? Sony? Nope — your Bravia may be nice, but it’s not number one. Panasonic? Nah. And nope, it’s not Sharp, LG, Samsung, or Philips either.
The answer: Vizio.
A company that didn’t exist 4 years ago and, unlike all of the companies above, is actually based in the United States.
According to the market research firm DisplaySearch, Vizio was ranked number 15 just 2 years ago. So how did a no-name brand based in California beat out the giants of Seoul and Tokyo? Really, in hindsight, considering all of the factors blowing behind them, it would have been remarkable if they didn’t.
Four years ago, you might have guessed that VIZIO was some sort of graphic design company or electric scooter manufacturer. It toiled about in relative obscurity until for a couple years and, at the end of the second quarter of 2005, the company sat in 15th place in the North American flat panel TV market.
Another two years have gone by since then, and VIZIO’s now the top dog.
I just finished spending a few months with a Vizio HDTV and for the price, you really can’t complain too much. Those with a thirst for the big screen and a small budget will be excited to know that Vizio will be selling its new 52-inch model online and at Costco stores next month. Word from Taiwan is that the set uses the same exact LCD panels used by LG Philips. Though not cheap by any means, it’s certainly one of the cheaper 52-inch LCD TVs available, coming in at $2200.
Also, by year’s end, Vizio will be offering a 40-inch LCD HDTV that uses Sony and Samsung’s S-LCD technology. No word yet on price, but this is sure to keep increasing Vizio’s market presence as a strong competitor in the HDTV world. Sure there are plenty of TVs to choose from, but only so many are priced for those on a budget.
Vizio-brand 52-inch LCD TV to arrive next month [DigiTimes]
While filling up on my five-hours-per-day tube habit, I spotted a commercial that utterly shocked me. This ad wasn’t particularly gory or raunchy — it was the advertiser that caught me off-guard. Vizio, one of those off-brand flat screen TV-makers whose native habitat is in the aisles of Sam’s Club and Costco, was actually advertising on TV.
From everything I’ve seen, the picture quality on a Vizio, while maybe not as sharp as a Panasonic, is good enough that the average person wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. And its prices are certainly cut-rate — something consumers have apparently responded to, as the upstart company is now one of the top ten TV sellers in North America. Not bad for a company that didn’t exist five years ago.
So are LG and Sharp freaking out? Do companies like Vizio, Maxent, and Sceptre have the big guys running scared? Hardly. In fact, these upstarts could turn into the best thing to happen to the mega-manufacturers since cable.
