Walmart plans to buy TV maker Vizio in a deal worth about $2.3 billion. The acquisition is expected to help the retailer better compete with smart TV makers such as Amazon and Roku.

“The acquisition of Vizio and its SmartCast operating system will enable Walmart to deliver new services such as innovative television, home entertainment and media,” Walmart said in a press release. “The deal will also give brands more opportunities to engage with the shopper at scale and more return on their ad spend at Walmart.”

Walmart partnered with Innovid last year to deliver personalized ads on TVs. In 2022, the retailer teamed up with Roku to integrate the ability to purchase products directly from the TV through advertisements. Walmart can use Vizio to sell ads that are shown on TVs in stores. The company already has similar collaborations with other TV brands.

Vizio, in turn, already has more than 500 partnership agreements with advertisers. SmartCast OS has more than 18 million active accounts.

In December 2023, Vizio agreed to pay customers in California (USA) a total of $3 million in a class action lawsuit against the company for advertising claims about “false” refresh rates (120 Hz and 240 Hz) in its products. In addition to paying for verified claims, Vizio will “end the advertising practice” and “provide extended service and a limited one-year warranty to all affected customers.” Vizio also reported that it has been correctly labeling each TV for a long time with an accurate indication of the refresh rate characteristics in Hz (Refresh Rate 60 Hz for standard or 120 Hz for top TV models).