VIZIO Expands Global Reach, Bringing Its Award-Winning Collections of HDTV and Audio Products to the Canadian Market

TORONTO, Sept. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- VIZIO, the #1 Smart TV¹ and Sound Bar company² in the U.S., announced today its expansion into the Canadian market. With the expanded distribution, VIZIO will deliver its award-winning portfolio of HDTV and audio products, featuring powerful, yet beautifully simple design backed by best-in-class customer service.

Beginning September 12, VIZIO products will initially be available at Best Buy and Future Shop retail locations throughout Canada. VIZIO will offer Canadian consumers its collection of popular E- and M-Series Full-Array LED Smart TVs and a range of award-winning audio solutions, including VIZIO's 2.1 and 5.1 Sound Bar Systems and a 2.1 Sound Stand. Canadian consumers will appreciate the attainable price points VIZIO is known for as well as category-leading picture and audio quality.  From a design perspective, clean, modern aesthetics make VIZIO products a simple, yet sleek upgrade for any room.

"VIZIO believes everyone deserves access to best-in-class technologies at a great value, and our commitment to Canadian consumers is rooted in this mantra," said Matt McRae, VIZIO Chief Technology Officer.  "Offering our products through Canada's largest consumer electronics retailers grants more households access to attainable, high-quality VIZIO technologies in both the HDTV and audio categories."

At the time of launch, VIZIO products will be available at Best Buy and Future Shop both in-store and online, providing consumers the opportunity to experience product demonstrations first-hand and discuss VIZIO technologies with expert staff.

"Canadians continue to choose Best Buy and Future Shop as their top two consumer electronics and lifestyle goods retailers.  Our teams are always working hard to bring new and exceptional brands to keep pace with the wants and needs of our customers, which is why we're very excited to offer VIZIO's award-winning product line," said Mat Povse, Vice President of Merchandising, Best Buy Canada and Future Shop. "Over the past decade, VIZIO has solidified itself as a trusted brand in the U.S. We are very proud to now offer VIZIO's HDTVs and audio solutions in Canada, adding more amazing products for our customers as we continue to expand our lead in the market."

VIZIO's 2014 E-Series Full-Array LED Smart TV collection, recipient of an "Excellent" rating from CNET³, is ideal for consumers looking for the latest technology, great picture quality and popular features like Smart TV connectivity and streaming apps. Unlike most competitive models in its class, the VIZIO E-Series includes Full-Array LED backlighting and advanced local dimming technology, with up to 18 Active LED Zones, delivering better light uniformity for a more vibrant, beautiful picture. Technology like Active LED Zones represents a significant step forward in picture quality for consumers. Pure black levels with higher contrast are created by dynamic adjustment of the LED backlight in each Active LED Zone, based on the content displayed on the screen. More zones mean more discrete control of the LED backlight resulting in improved contrast and more impressive picture quality.

For consumers interested in a step up to cutting-edge picture quality, VIZIO's 2014 M-Series Full-Array LED Smart TV collection, which recently received the coveted "Top Pick" rating from Sound & Vision⁴ and a "Highly Recommended" rating from HDTV Solutions⁴, is the answer.  Using advanced Full-Array LED backlighting technology, the 2014 VIZIO M-Series models provide premium picture performance.  With up to 36 Active LED Zones, consumers can enjoy additional zones of local dimming for more balanced distribution of backlighting across the entire screen, enhancing deep, accurate black levels and brighter, more vivid details.  In addition, Active Pixel Tuning delivers intelligent pixel level luminance adjustments to further increase contrast and picture detail accuracy. The M-Series line-up features a two-sided smart remote with backlit QWERTY keyboard, further enhancing the VIZIO Smart TV experience with simple, one-touch access to favorite apps and entertainment.

All VIZIO Smart TVs launching into Canada feature the VIZIO Internet Apps Plus® platform, bringing apps such as Netflix, YouTube, Yahoo! News, Flickr, Crackle and more, right into the consumer's living room, bedroom or den. An app dock overlays the bottom of the screen giving consumers quick, at-a-glance access to seven of their favorite apps, without interrupting on-screen content.  With the selected app in center focus of the display, users can easily view the previous three and next three apps in the carousel for faster navigation.

VIZIO's audio solutions serve as the perfect complement for today's slim HDTVs and bring superior surround sound and new convenience features to any room in the house. From the VIZIO 54" 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar System with Wireless Subwoofer designed for consumers with HDTVs 55" and larger, to the VIZIO 2.1 Sound Stand which offers room-filling audio in a compact form factor, VIZIO brings a variety of options to consumers looking to upgrade their audio experience or create a personal home theater. VIZIO's 2.1 Sound Stand was recognized by Digital Trends with a 2014 Best of CES Awards nomination in the home audio category, while Sound & Vision chose VIZIO's 42" 2.1 Home Theater Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer as a 2013 Top Pick of the Year and the 54" 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar System with Wireless Subwoofer received the Editor's Choice Award from Digital Trends.

VIZIO sound bar systems include an intuitive and easy-to-use remote which features a built-in LCD screen, allowing users to easily adjust input, turn on Bluetooth pairing, enable/disable audio technologies, or select other audio settings. The entire VIZIO audio line-up comes equipped with convenient Bluetooth technologies for streaming music, even when the TV is off, and includes all necessary cables for a quick, hassle-free set-up right out of the box.

In addition to its television and audio products, VIZIO's North America-based customer support has also expanded service to the Canadian market, offering the same level of quality and responsiveness American consumers have come to appreciate.

"VIZIO promises Canadian consumers the same advanced technology, best-in-class quality and responsive customer service that has made us such a trusted brand and market leader in the U.S.," said Laynie Newsome, VIZIO Chief Sales Officer and Co-Founder.

At launch, the following VIZIO Smart TVs and audio products will be available at Best Buy and Future Shop retail locations, and online at bestbuy.ca, futureshop.ca and vizio.com:

E-Series HDTVs
24" Class Razor LED Smart TV (E241i-B1)
28" Class Full-Array LED Smart TV (E280i-B1)
50" Class Full-Array LED Smart TV (E500i-B1)
60" Class Full-Array LED Smart TV (E600i-B3)
70" Class Full-Array LED Smart TV (E700i-B3)

M-Series HDTVs
42" Class Full-Array LED Smart TV (M422i-B1)
50" Class Full-Array LED Smart TV (M502i-B1)
60" Class Full-Array LED Smart TV (M602i-B3)
70" Class Full-Array LED Smart TV (M702i-B3)

Audio Products
42" 2.1 Home Theater Sound Bar w/ Wireless Subwoofer (S4221w-C4)
42" 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar w/ Wireless Subwoofer and Satellite Speakers (S4251w-B4)
54" 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar w/ Wireless Subwoofer and Satellite Speakers (S5451w-C2)
21" 2.1 Sound Stand (S2121w-D0)

For more information on VIZIO and its complete product line-up, please visit www.vizio.ca.

¹ The NPD Group / Weekly Tracking Service, Flat Panel TV units with Apps included, Dec 30 2012 – May 24 2014
² The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service, units sold in the U.S., Jan 2011 – Dec 2013
³ Review based on 2014 E-Series Full-Array LED Smart TV collection
⁴ Awards based on reviews of 60" class M-Series Full-Array LED Smart TV (M602i-B3)

About VIZIO

VIZIO, Inc. is headquartered in Irvine, California. VIZIO skyrocketed to the #1 shipper of LCD television in North America in Q2 2007¹, within five years from their first shipment, and has been in the top 3 ever since². VIZIO is now also America's #1 Smart TV company⁵ and large size LCD TV company³. VIZIO is also the #1 Sound Bar Brand in the U.S⁴. For over a decade, VIZIO has remained committed to what it does best -- focus on the consumer to deliver visionary products at a great value. The brand is consistently recognized for excellence in customer service, and was awarded 19 Stevie Awards, including the Grand Stevie Award in the 8^th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. VIZIO offers a broad range of award winning consumer electronics that now include PCs and mobility products.  VIZIO's products are found at Amazon, Best Buy, BJ's Wholesale, Costco Wholesale, Sam's Club, Target, Walmart and other retailers nationwide. VIZIO has won numerous awards including 2014 Editor's Choice by Reviewed.com, "Best of CES 2014" by IGN, "Best of CES 2014" by PC Magazine and "Best of the Best 2014" by UltraHDTV Magazine for its Reference Series Ultra HD Full-Array LED Smart TV.  VIZIO's P-Series Ultra HD Full-Array LED Smart TV also captured Reviewed.com's 2014 Editor's Choice award and was also recognized by The Verge as "Best TV of CES" for 2014 as well as awarded "Best of CES" by Complex and "Best of Show" by Wired for 2014.  VIZIO also earned #1 ranking in the Inc. 500 for Top Companies in Computers and Electronics and made the lists of Ad Age's Hottest Brands, CNET's Editor's Choice, CNET Best of CES 2011 - Television, CNET Best of CES 2013 – Home Theater and Audio, Sound & Vision's Top Picks, Good Housekeeping's Best Big-Screens, PC World's Best Buy and Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice among many other prestigious honors.  For more information, please call 888-VIZIOCE or visit www.VIZIO.com.

¹NPD DisplaySearch Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, North America LCD Shipments Q2 2007
²NPD DisplaySearch Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, North America LCD Shipments, Annual 2007-2013
³ The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service, 60" and greater LCD units sold, Jan 2013 – Mar 2014
⁴The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service, units sold in the U.S., Jan 2011 – Dec 2013
⁵The NPD Group / Weekly Tracking Service, Flat Panel TV units with Apps included, Dec 30 2012 – May 24 2014

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SOURCE VIZIO, Inc.