Contrary to the hopes of those seeking an American-made product, Vizio has yet to commence manufacturing its TVs in the United States. If we take a closer look at the 2021 Annual Report referenced earlier, it clearly states that the assembly of Vizio products happens abroad, which essentially means no manufacturing was taking place in America, at least until 2021.
However, the report is quick to add that Vizio retains control over design and development. On its website, Vizio has also confirmed that all of Vizio’s products are conceptualized and designed by its team in California. The company essentially follows the same strategy as Apple, which designs almost everything inside its products in California but ends up offloading the manufacturing bit to third-party vendors elsewhere.
Nevertheless, with the fresh developments of February 2024, Vizio’s manufacturing landscape could take an interesting turn. Vizio was in the news of late after the retail giant Walmart decided to acquire the consumer electronics company for $2.3 billion. This acquisition has sparked speculations about potential changes in Vizio.
Interestingly, initial indications aren’t looking particularly good for Vizio TVs since Walmart has made it clear that they are more interested in Vizio’s SmartCast operating system than the actual Vizio TVs. It remains unclear at this moment if Walmart intends to keep the Vizio brand alive and possibly turn it into the company’s in-house TV brand.
If Walmart does double down on Vizio’s TV business, there is the looming possibility that Walmart’s extensive supply chain network could influence future Vizio manufacturing locations.
