Irvine’s Vizio Inc., one of the top makers of flat-screen TVs, is expected to unveil a tablet computer and smartphone at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The move marks continued expansion for Vizio, which is best known for low-cost TVs. Vizio’s sets sell for $200 to more than $3,000, typically less than those from Samsung, Sony Corp. and others.
Vizio counts on discount retailers, including Target Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., for big chunks of its sales.
Prices for Vizio’s tablet and smartphone haven’t been disclosed. The company is set to follow the same low-cost strategy with a tablet computer and smartphone.
That could lead a round of price cuts for tablet computers, which are seen as dominating this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
Vizio’s phone and tablet, which appeared in a Rose Bowl commercial on Sunday, are expected to be called Via.
The phone is set to have a 4-inch screen and a camera for video calls, pictures and video.
The Via Tablet is expected to have an 8-inch, high-resolution screen and a WiFi, but not cellular, connection.
Both devices are expected to run Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
The product launches come as Vizio’s main TV market appears to be slowing.
Industry estimates point to 2010 as the first year of declines for LCD TVs in the U.S. since they first started going mainstream about five years ago.
Shipments are expected to end the year down 1% from 2009 to 31.9 million TVs, according to El Segundo-based research firm iSuppli Corp., part of Englewood, Colo.-based IHS Inc.
The drop in shipments owed in part to the tough economy as well as constraints in TV parts in the early part of the year.
The adoption cycle for flat TVs also is nearing a peak.
Two-thirds of U.S. homes and other users already have switched to flat TVs, according to the Arlington, Va.-based Consumer Electronics Association.
Vizio designs and markets low-cost liquid-crystal-display TVs here and has them made by Taiwanese contract electronics maker and investor AmTran Technology Co.
The company has fared well in the industry’s boom. The company launched in 2002 and had sales of about $2.5 billion by 2009. It passed Samsung in terms of U.S. shipments of LCD models—the most common type of flat TV—in the third quarter.
Vizio claimed 30% of the market in the period. It’s counting on more inroads against its bigger rival to fuel growth in a maturing market.
The company also is looking to other products, including DVD players, home theater speakers and mobile devices for growth.
