The already crowded smart TV OS wars just got a little more heated with the quiet introduction on U.S. retail shelves of low-priced models made by Hisense and powered by the Chinese manufacturer’s Linux-based operating system, VIDAA.
Perusing the virtual shelves of Walmart, Best Buy and Costco, we found plenty of budget-minded sets in the 32-, 40- and 43-inch sizes, all lacking premium features like 4K capability but all priced at well under $200.
In fact, we couldn't find anything cheaper than this 32-inch, VIDAA-powered Toshiba set at BestBuy.com. (Hisense now has a license to manufacture TVs under the Japanese “Toshiba” brand name.)
Founded in 2019 by Qingdao, China-headquartered Hisense Group and other investors, Atlanta-based VIDAA makes what Hisense now calls “its preferred smart TV OS,” even though the company continues to sell TVs powered by Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Google TV.
In an announcement made in early January, VIDAA said it was coming to the U.S., having already “started in Europe and then to the Middle East, Australia and APAC, and, most recently, in Latin America.”
VIDAA, which supports most major SVOD and FAST apps, even called out Roku by name in a February press release touting its own native free ad-supported streaming component.
Indeed, an increased presence from VIDAA in Hisense’s smart TV product lines could have a major impact on Roku, Amazon and Google, which have proliferated their operating software mainly through OEM partnerships with makers like Hisense. And it could make it more challenging for TVOS newcomers, including Comcast-Charter JV Xumo TV and Xperi/TiVo, to gain a foothold in North America.
Hisense is the world’s second-biggest shipper of smart TVs, according to research company Omdia.
With Samsung, LG and Vizio making their own OS software, Hisense and TCL, another Chinese manufacturer, have been the biggest sales drivers of third-party TVOS platforms like Roku.
However, with even TCL developing its own FAST, and Roku and Amazon now manufacturing their own smart TVs, the global TV market seems to be moving to a “BYOS” (bring your own software) paradigm.
