What They Say
Protocol Entertainment said that Comcast has looked at acquiring Vizio or another TV maker and has even looked at and talked to TP Vision, the licensee for Philips TVs in Europe. The thought is that the firm could use a brand to develop and promote its sets based on the streaming first design that it has introduced in the Sky Glass-branded TVs in the UK (and now to be introduced in Ireland). Comcast has also been selling XClass-branded TVs via Walmart.
The report was not able to confirm that there are still discussions going on.
What We Think
Vizio’s share price has dropped from its IPO level of $21 to below $9 this week. It has been trying to convert its business to earn more from advertising and services than from hardware sales which have razor thin margins. In an apparent effort to optimise its business, the firm’s recent 2023 product launch really focused on the mainstream with no high end sets such as 8K and without any update in its OLED models.
It would be interesting to see a big boost for the concept of streaming TVs. I have been ranting about the fact that I haven’t used a complex, expensive tuner in any of my TVs for 15 years or so. Sky’s Glass TV does have a tuner, but its minimal and hard to find in the instructions. I have noticed that Sky is using its sports channels to promote the Glass TV very strongly. (BR)
