Irvine-based Vizio Inc. debuted its first line of tablets intended for full production and sales this month at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show after testing the waters in that segment for a little more than a year.
The company is targeting consumers and businesses with an 11.6-inch touchscreen equipped with Windows 8, full 1080 high definition, and a 64-gigabit solid-state drive.
Vizio will rely on its strong retail distribution network—which includes Walmart, Sam’s Club, Amazon.com and MicrosoftStore.com—to push the products.
The company is aggressively moving into the crowded tablet market amid booming sales. The segment is projected to top 240 million units shipped in 2013, eclipsing notebook shipments by more than 30 million units, according to a recent forecast by DisplaySearch, a unit of NPD Group Inc. of Port Washington, N.Y.
Cupertino-based Apple Inc. is expected to dominate market share when the tallies are counted from the recently ended quarter. Analysts expect Apple to sell some 20 million iPads, or about 70% of the segment’s quarterly total.
At CES, Vizio also showcased a 10-inch tablet in development that runs on Google’s Android Jelly Bean operating system. It features Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 32 gigabits of memory, a 5-megapixel rear camera and near-field communication sensors.
Vizio didn’t disclose pricing on its new tablets at CES, but they will likely cost significantly less than the iPad, which costs between $400 and $800, depending on features and the model.
“We don’t have an availability or price point, but we’re going to try to get them in the market as quickly as we can with competitive price points,” Vizio Senior Product Manager Brad Johnson said during a demonstration at the company’s ballroom at the Wynn Hotel & Casino during CES. “This stuff is so new I’m a little surprised we’ve even shown it.”
Vizio released its first tablet on a limited basis in August 2011 as it assessed the market. That model, which ran on Google Inc.’s Android system, cost about $300.
Wang told local business executives at a breakfast outing last year that Vizio sold more than 400,000 units.
That’s scant market share, and the privately held company generally stays mum on financial figures, but Chief Technology Officer Matthew McCrae recently told The Wall Street Journal that the initial tablet turned a profit on its limited sales.
Paragon Win
Irvine-based Paragon Software Group recently notched a design win to imbed its universal file system driver into Corsair’s newly launched portable, wireless network drive.
Fremont-based Corsair, a memory-products maker, announced the deal at CES.
Paragon’s technology allows Corsair’s Voyager Air to be compatible with all devices and PCs. The product can be used as an attached storage device, a portable hard drive, or a Wi-Fi hub that can stream movies and music to multiple devices, including PCs and Macs, as well as those running on Android and Apple Inc.’s operating system.
The Voyager Air features up to 1 terabyte of storage, a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for portable use and a speedier USB connection. It retails for up to $230 with more storage.
“Paragon’s driver technology was selected over its competition because of its exceptional transfer rate performance,” said Thi La, senior vice president and general manager of Memory and Enthusiast Component Products at Corsair.
Paragon is one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Orange County, and it has more than $10 million in annual sales.
HID’s Florida Buy
Irvine-based technology developer HID Global has acquired a Florida competitor with deep ties to the government sector.
The company recently announced it purchased Coconut Creek-based CodeBench for undisclosed terms.
HID, a unit of Sweden-based security services provider Assa Abloy Group AB, said the buy provides in-roads to federal agencies and new contractors, while positioning the company to serve emerging government and commercial markets.
HID makes smart cards and readers for governments, logistics companies and others, as well as animal tags and secure printers that personalize access credentials and encodes them with data.
It also makes U.S. greencards for the federal government through its Mountain View-based LaserCard Corp., which it bought in 2010.
HID employs a few hundred people in Irvine, where it houses a distribution operation and some programming. It employs 2,100 people companywide.
The company doesn’t disclose revenue figures. Parent Assa Abloy sees about $6 billion in annual revenue and employs some 34,000 people.
