Vizio hopes to 'disrupt' the PC market with own desktops, laptops

Vizio, which most people equate with low-cost TVs, hopes its name will also mean low-cost (and profitable) computers: it will unveil two desktop PCs and three laptops at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this coming week, CTO Matt McRae said in an interview with Bloomberg.

The idea is simple: "disrupt" the PC market, which already seems to be pretty much disrupted already, meaning that profit margins are already as lower than companies like HP would like them to be.

McRae said, "It’s very similar to TV --- we want to get in there and disrupt it. We think most PCs have been designed for the small-business users, that others have not done a very good job of making them entertainment devices." He added that the Windows-based computers will go on sale by June and will have "a price that just doesn’t seem possible," while declining specifics.

The Vizio desktop PCs will have 24-inch or 27-inch screens, and be all-in-one PCs like the iMac. There will be one 15.6-inch laptop and two ultra-thin (think MacBook Air) laptops with 14-inch and 15.6-inch screens.

As a value-add, though, Vizio is also workingo on software that will allow its televisions to share content with its computers and tablets. The software will work on rivals' devices as well, and will be part of Vizio's strategy to link its line of products together.

And you read that correctly, Vizio entered the tablet fray some time ago, with an 8-inch Android tablet it introduced in August. The company said it quickly sold out of the tablet, and while not giving exact figures, said it had underestimated demand and sold well into six-figures worth of devices.