- GeneralIPO
- March 3, 2021
- 5 minutes read
Smart TV Maker Vizio Files To Go Public
Vizio, a well-known maker of smart TVs and other complementary equipment such as soundbars, has filed an S-1 with the…
Vizio, a well-known maker of smart TVs and other complementary equipment such as soundbars, has filed an S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a public listing, seeking to do so for the second time after having previously filed to go public in 2015 but later withdrew its plan in lieu of a $2 billion sale agreement to a Chinese company that unfortunately didn’t pan out.
The market for technology IPOs has been very hot as of late and it seems that Vizio is coming in at the right time to capitalize on that hotness.
- A popular maker of smart TVs, Vizio has sold over 80 million TVs and 11 million soundbars since the company’s inception, as indicated in its S-1 filing. The company sold 7.1 million TVs in 2020 alone.
- Vizio has strong revenues and is profitable, reporting $102 million in net income on over $2 billion in revenue in 2020. In the previous year, 2019, Vizio reported a net income of $23 million on $1.8 billion in revenue.
- Most of Vizio’s revenue comes from the sale of devices while its TV platform brings in a significant but minority percentage of revenue. In 2020, the revenue breakdown was $1.9 billion from the sale of devices and $147 million from Vizio’s TV platform.
- Vizio’s biggest shareholders include its founder and Chief Executive Officer William Wang as well as Chinese manufacturing giant Foxconn, which currently holds more than 25% of Vizio’s Class A shares through a group of corporate affiliates. After its IPO, the company will remain controlled by Wang.
- Vizio will list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “VZIO”.
Judging from its disclosed financials, it’s apparent that Vizio is a very successful company in its right, with a leading market share in the world of smart TVs. It’s an American company that built a large business from the ground up itself, based in the city of Irvine, California.
As Vizio has seen huge success, the company has not been without a few controversies that it’s wrapped up over time, with most centered on its data tracking practices. Notably, the company paid a $2.2 million fine to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2017 to settle charges of installing tracking and data collection software on 11 million consumer TVs without the knowledge and consent of their owners.
Photo credit: Vizio
