Vizio To File IPO, Expects To Raise $173 Million

Vizio Inc., a leading consumer electronics manufacturer, is going public and has filed a prospectus with U.S. regulators for  listing its shares on NYSE. The company has proposed to raise up to $172.5 million at an undisclosed offering price in an initial public offering. Vizio will trade under the ticker ‘VZIO’.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in California, Vizio has gained an expertise in manufacturing low-priced consumer electronic products. The company has significant presence in Smart TVs, Internet-connectable televisions, and sound bars in the U.S. Since its inception, the company has sold more than 65 million electronic products including over 15 million Smart TVs. In addition, Vizio boasts more than three billion hours of entertainment content streamed via its devices. Particularly, in the six months ended June 30, 2015, the company has recorded over $1.3 billion in net sales and $31.4 million in net income.

Vizio products are sold in over 8,000 retail stores. The IPO will offer significant liquidity to expand its retail presence as well as invest in R&D to thwart competition.

Amid the thriving Smart TV market in the U.S., the IPO of Vizio will certainly raise the competitive level. Vizio reportedly has 35% of the market share in the U.S. Smart TV market. The company is currently focusing on providing an intuitive and engaging interface to enable viewers to engage with entertainment and other content on its Smart TVs via  streaming content providers, such as Netflix, Inc. (NFLX - Analyst Report), Hulu, Amazon (AMZN - Analyst Report) and YouTube of Google Inc.(GOOG). .

The company faces strong competition from other companies like Sony Corp. (SNE - Snapshot Report), LG Electronics, Sharp Electronics, and Roku TV manufacturers. As for the future, let’s wait and watch how Vizio fares in a highly competitive market depending on the product or service it offers.