VIZIO Holding Corp. is an American consumer electronics company founded in 2002 and headquartered in Irvine, California. In a significant development, retailer Walmart announced its acquisition of VIZIO in February 2024. While publicly traded on the NYSE under the ticker VZIO prior to the acquisition, it now operates as a subsidiary of Walmart. The company's revenue for 2022 was approximately $1.86 billion, and employee counts from various sources range from approximately 900 to 1,200.
VIZIO designs and sells a range of home entertainment products, primarily known for its Smart TVs, including 4K, QLED, and OLED models. The company is also a major seller of soundbars. A key part of its business is its integrated SmartCast operating system (VIZIO OS), which provides a platform for streaming applications and includes VIZIO's own free, ad-supported streaming service, WatchFree+. This platform model allows the company to generate ongoing revenue through advertising and content distribution partnerships.
As a patent litigant, VIZIO is exclusively a defendant, reflecting its status as an operating company targeted for its products and services. The company has been a defendant in all three of its tracked patent infringement lawsuits and has not filed any as a plaintiff. These suits have been filed in the U.S. District Courts for the District of Delaware, the Central District of California, and the Western District of Texas, a venue known for attracting patent litigation.
The entities suing VIZIO are non-practicing entities (NPEs) or patent assertion entities. The plaintiffs in its tracked cases include NL Giken Inc., described by Unified Patents as an NPE asserting a patent related to digital content delivery; Multimedia Technologies Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based firm litigating smart TV patents originally issued to electronics manufacturer Flextronics; and AlmondNet, Inc., an entity focused on licensing and litigating a portfolio of targeted-advertising patents.