While you might not buy a new TV often, the next time you are in the market for a Vizio smart TV, there’s a good chance that you will only be able to pick one up from Walmart.
While Vizio TVs have readily been available through a variety of retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy and Target, a new report from Bloomberg News explains that Walmart now plans to turn Vizio into a private label brand.
As part of that change, the intention is to limit where a Vizio TV can be purchased from to Walmart and Sam’s Club, and by the end of this year.
As a reminder, Walmart purchased Vizio last year in a deal worth more than $2 billion. As Walmart also own Sam’s Club, this change will essentially make Walmart the only company that sell’s Vizio TVs.
For companies like Amazon, this might actually be in its interest. Similar to Walmart, Amazon has also been actively working to expand its footprint within the smart TV sector, and the removal of a major competitor may help the company to sell more of its first- and third-party Fire TV-powered smart TVs.
For the consumer, and especially those that prefer the Vizio way of doing things, Walmart and Sam’s Club are likely to be the only options soon.
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