Vizio TV Exclusive Sales at Walmart, Other Brands to Be Left Behind?

Companies that rely on Walmart's channel to boost television sales may need to rethink their strategies.

July 18th, according to Bloomberg's internal memo, Vizio TV's comprehensive exit strategy has been finalized, with a plan to complete the transition by 2025. Originally, Vizio TV was simultaneously setting up at major retail platforms such as Amazon and Target. However, in the future, Vizio TV will rely solely on Walmart's system for survival, with exclusive sales at Walmart and its Sam's Club stores.

Industry observers believe that this move will trigger a structural adjustment in the North American television market. Traditional television brands such as Samsung, LG, TCL, Hisense, and RCA may have a chance to be left behind in Walmart's channel ecosystem.

Vizio TV has become Walmart's "favorite child." Born in 2002, Vizio TV was acquired by American retail giant Walmart for $23 billion in December 2024.

Full-scale promotion of its own television brand is nothing unusual for Walmart. In the retail logic, a self-owned brand always enjoys higher profit margins, stronger pricing power, and greater imagination space.

Vizio's growth curve is not just about TVs but online advertising

Walmart acquired Vizio TV not to sell TVs but to explore a new model. Through resource integration, it aims to build a "retail+advertising+tech" model.

In the past few years, Vizio TV has been performing relatively stably. Data shows that in 2021-2023, its smart TV shipments were 7.8 million units (sales revenue of $23 billion), 7.3 million units (sales revenue of $22.5 billion), and 7.6 million units (sales revenue of $22.8 billion), with active users continuously growing to over 18 million by the end of 2023.

So, what growth potential did Walmart see in Vizio TV?

The answer is platform income! According to streamtvinsider research data, Vizio TV's full-year platform+ income grew 25% in 2023, reaching $598 million.

In the third quarter of 2024, Vizio smart TV shipments dropped significantly, down 5% year-on-year to 1 million units. However, Vizio's Platform+ business (including platform-based advertising and sponsorship, including its built-in WatchFree+ ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service) and content distribution grew strongly, achieving revenue of $197 million, up 26%. Among them, advertising income accounted for 82%, approximately $161 million, up 31%. Without a doubt, advertising has become the main engine driving Vizio's profits.

Vizio TV's advertising growth is not an isolated case. From an industry perspective, according to emarketer research, digital advertising spending in the United States exceeded $30 billion for the first time in 2024, reaching $3093 billion, up 15.1% from 2023.

Industry performance confirms that Vizio TV is located in a rapidly growing period of online advertising. This gives Vizio TV and Walmart more growth points, which is the fundamental reason for Walmart's approach to it.

Vizio is an important puzzle piece in Walmart's retail field

As a giant in the retail industry, Walmart views Vizio TV as a retail terminal entrance point.

In Walmart's eyes, Vizio TV is not just a TV but a direct conversion traffic medium – users can click on ads while watching videos or variety shows and enter Walmart's store to make purchases. This "watch-and-buy" model significantly shortens the purchase path.

Over the past year, Walmart has already tasted the sweetness of digital advertising. In 2024, Walmart's ad revenue grew to $44 billion, up 27%, with Walmart Connect (Walmart's retail media advertising platform focused on providing digital advertising solutions for brands based on Walmart's user data and retail scenarios) growing 24%. In the first quarter of 2025, this platform's ad revenue grew year-on-year by 50%, with the US market growing by 31% and the international market growing by 20%.

Walmart's goal is clear: to integrate Vizio streaming TV into its retail advertising portfolio as a core component.

Vizio TV's platformized features are naturally an entry point for Walmart's advertising strategy extension. It will link advertising, content, and product sales together, making smart TVs a hub for digital advertising and retail integration.

Will Vizio TV's main sales impact other brands?

Walmart's exclusive sale of Vizio TV will change the television sales ecosystem. Existing TV brands will be affected.

According to Statista's sales data, in the past three years, leading TV brands at Walmart have included Samsung, LG, TCL, Hisense, and RCA.

Walmart's support for Vizio TV affects them in several ways:

Losing price advantage. Walmart will wholeheartedly support its own brand, maintaining a consistent high-value strategy that will create a persistent price war with competitors.

Losing experience advantage. Walmart will reserve the best display positions for Vizio TV and prioritize user experiences. Once Vizio TV occupies the core display zone and resources, other brands will be marginalized.

Losing recommendation advantage. Walmart has enough power to prioritize recommending Vizio products and providing stronger in-store support and technical explanations.

If Walmart really follows this strategy, other home appliance brands must expand new channels.

A case study is Amazon. Previously, Peak Design's camera bag was very popular at Amazon. Later, Amazon released a similar product, AmazonBasics camera bag, which not only had a similar appearance and functionality but also sold for much lower than Peak Design. Since Amazon has its own search rankings, pricing advantages, traffic, and user advantages, sales have increased significantly, making it harder for Peak Design to compete.

Amazon and Walmart share the same nature. In Walmart's ecosystem, competing TV brands must recognize a reality: Walmart as a retailer is primarily focused on maximizing profits rather than fairly distributing resources.

Vizio TV has become Walmart's "favorite child." All of Walmart's retail resources will be tilted towards it, making other brands "temporary partners."

According to the Wall Street Journal, Walmart has over 90 self-owned brands, with 20 having annual sales exceeding $10 billion. Considering Walmart's support for Vizio TV and expectations, Vizio TV is likely to become a new "sales giant" – achieving sales of $10 billion or more in the next two years.

TV brands that rely on Walmart's channel should quickly expand other platforms. Otherwise, they may face fluctuations in sales and brand weakening challenges.

Borrowing from Walmart's platform and massive data, Vizio TV is completing a majestic transformation from a hardware manufacturer to a traffic platform. This acquisition behind the scenes is more about "traffic control+data monetization+platform extension."

According to Vizio TV's plan, it will open up TV operation system licensing, enhancing platform coverage and expanding advertising reach. This is exactly what Walmart is building based on Vizio TV's retail closed-loop.

(Image source: pixabay)