Is Vizio the Next Big Hot Thing in the Tablet and LCD Rental Sector?

By Erin Monda on Wed, 2011-06-22 05:06

The LCD business is booming, with HDTVs cropping up all over the world – in a variety of different places. We’re seeing them on the back of headrests, on refrigerators and even gym equipment. While there is no apparent end to where LCDs making are an appearance, competition among manufacturers has been ferocious.

We’re finding that LCD rental requests are coming in for Sony, Samsung, and other makers – but which other companies are cashing in?

According to several different sources, it’s VIZIO. If your first reaction to that news is “VIZI-WHO?” then you probably aren’t alone. The company was founded back in 2002 for the express purpose of creating affordable technology. The company advertises itself on manufacturing America’s Best Selling LED LCD HDTV – and it seems certain leading industry trade shows and publications would agree.

Here’s a brief history:

In 2007, VIZIO’s 60” Plasma HDTV came away as being ranked “BEST” of CES (Consumer Electronics Show).

In 2009, VIZIO was the number one shipper of LCD HDTVs at various points in Q1 and Q2.

In 2010, VIZIO won several awards, including Deloitte’s Fast 500 award, the 500/5000 award, and Home Theater Magazine’s “Top Picks” award. It also made OC Metro’s "10 Most Trusted Brands” list.

In 2011, VIZIO announced that it topped the LCD HDTV sales list in the United States for two consecutive quarters. It seems that the company expects to remain a top producer of large-scale LCD televisions – but that isn’t going to remain limited to televisions.

Today, VIZIO has announced that it will be entering the tablet arena – a hot space of late – with the release of its new tablet. The “VIZIO Tablet” as it is called, comes with all of the standard specs: 1,024-by-768 resolution, and a Gingerbread-friendly 1 Ghz processor. While it remains to be seen whether or not the VIZIO Tablet will be able to run Honeycomb, each of the screens has been customized attractively by the maker.

The VIZIO tablet has a few other features that set it apart, such as integration with Google TV, but that’s about it so far. PC Magazine did some coverage on the tablet at the recent CEA Line Show and that was the most glowing differentiator that they had to report.

Perhaps VIZIO should stick to tvs – but only time will tell.

[Editorial Note: To rent any LCDs or tablets, fill out a hassle-free FlexQuote. We’ll get back to you within an hour with pricing.]