Wal-Mart launches advertising business offensive with low-end TVs
As TV demand stagnates, competition on FAST platforms intensifies.
Samsung and LG also strengthen their FAST business… Looking to escape the TV slump
Walmart, a large U.S. retailer, acquired smart TV company Vizio, heralding a seismic change in the U.S. TV market.
In the U.S. TV market, the paid subscription market is stagnating as consumers grow tired of high prices, and the so-called FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) market, an ad-based free streaming service, is growing.
Walmart is planning to use Vizio, a low-end smart TV company, as a ‘billboard’, so it is analyzed that it could pose a big threat to Korean TV companies such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
According to the electronics industry on the 23rd, Walmart announced that it had acquired Vizio for $2.3 billion (3 trillion won) through its fourth quarter (November to January) earnings report for the fiscal year announced on the 20th (local time).
Vizio is an American home appliance company that produces smart TVs and sound bars, and has been selling its products through Walmart and its affiliates as its main distribution channels.
The industry believes that Walmart will accelerate the growth of its advertising business, ‘Walmart Connect’, through this acquisition.
Walmart Connect is a retail media service introduced in January 2021, through which Walmart sells advertisements through displays in offline stores and on its website. Walmart’s advertising division’s sales grew 28% compared to the previous year. It is expected that advertising will be sold in earnest through the smart TV platform. The advertising business area is expanding to home TVs.
◆Walmart TV business expansion… Korean TV industry is on fire
Walmart’s acquisition of Vizio could also pose a threat to Samsung Electronics, the No. 1 local TV brand.
Walmart has already gained sensational popularity by selling an inexpensive ‘PB (own brand)’ TV product called ‘ONN’ locally. This TV is only $398 (530,000 won) for a 65-inch model, so there is waiting demand. With a price offensive, ONN surpassed TCL, Vizio, LG Electronics, and Hisense, and rose to second place in market share after Samsung Electronics in terms of shipment volume.
Walmart plans to strengthen its content through this merger. ONN TV is currently using the operating system of ‘Roku’, the largest FAST platform in the US, and there is a high possibility that it will switch to Vizio’s ‘Smart Cast’ in the future. In this case, advertising revenue can be higher because no licensing fees are required.
It is also considered positive that the company can secure a large number of advertising partners working with Vizio. The industry predicts that Vizio will aggressively expand the market in the future.
Trend Force, a market research company, said, “With the cooperation between ONN and Vizio this year, Walmart can rank in the top five in global TV shipments,” and added, “We expect it to surpass Samsung Electronics and become the largest TV brand in the United States.”
With this merger, Korean companies can be chased by not only Chinese but also American companies. Due to the accelerated demand for TV replacements during the COVID-19 period and the subsequent high prices, it is difficult to expect shipment growth in the TV market, and competition among brands is intensifying.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are also speeding up their efforts to target the FAST market under the names of ‘Samsung TV Plus’ and ‘LG Channel’, respectively. In addition, the company plans to actively respond to the slump in the TV market by diversifying its product line, including smart monitors and project TVs.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.