Flat TV designer and marketer Westinghouse Digital LLC has relocated its headquarters from Orange to the eastern edge of Los Angeles County and changed its name, the company confirmed to the Business Journal.
“We are now in Diamond Bar,” marketing manager Brett Hunt said in an email.
The company, now known as Westinghouse Electronics, has moved into an office leased by Tongfang Global Ltd., which quietly struck a recent deal to license the Westinghouse name for TVs from New York-based CBS Corp.
Westinghouse Digital had the licensing rights to the brand name on TVs for years but did not renew the contract, according to Hunt.
Tongfang Global, a unit of Shenzhen, China-based Tongfang Co., manufactures the Seiki and Element TV brands in the U.S., the Orion TV brand in Germany, and Blu-ray players, sound bars and other electronic video products. Its TVs are distributed in more than 20 countries.
Revenue, Workers
The Business Journal estimates Westinghouse Electronics has annual revenue of about $250 million. It employed more than 100 companywide at its peak and maintained a small operation on State College Boulevard in Orange, with a few dozen employees and a research and development lab.
The company’s TVs sell for less than most big consumer electronics makers but failed to gain market share over the years, garnering less than 1% of sales in North America.
That pales in comparsion to competitors such as Irvine-based Vizio Inc., the No. 2 seller of smart HD TVs in North America only behind global powerhouse Samsung Group.
Vizio, which is seeking to raise up to $172.5 million in an initial public offering, posted sales of $3.1 billion last year, according to regulatory filings related to the IPO.
Buzz
Westinghouse gained some early buzz in 2013 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas when it showcased a 65-inch 4K TV and a 50-inch set that converts 1080p HD pictures into ultra-HD, becoming one of the first companies to offer TVs with four times higher resolution than the current standard.
Westinghouse set out to generate programming through a partnership with Northern California-based Roku Inc., which provides streaming 4K content.
The company also said at the time that it would aim to change up its retail distribution for the 4K models by targeting independent dealers and specialty retailers rather than its long-held stable of big-box retailers that includes Best Buy, Costco Wholesale and Target.
The company doesn’t disclose financial results.
