Vizio is breaking into PC business, wants to be Apple at a lower price

Maybe we should have guessed after it released a tablet last year, but it's still surprising to learn that Vizio is joining the PC business. According to the Wall Street Journal, the TV maker is ready to offer consumers all-in-one desktops and laptops that will be on display at CES next week and ready to buy in May (or June, if you believe Bloomberg's report instead).

Vizio says it looks to enter the market as Apple at lower prices, meaning it will emphasize design but take a page out of its TV playbook and price its PCs more competitively. The company was boosted by the fact that it's Android-based tablet sold out rapidly. It's also working on software to make its PCs interact seamlessly with its TVs, in order to share content across devices easily.

The Journal reports that Vizio will not be introducing Ultrabooks, but promises that its initial trio of laptops will be thin and light. There will be a pair of 15.6-inch notebooks, along with a 14-inch model. It will also roll out 24-inch and 27-inch all-in-ones. Perhaps specs will be revealed at CES. As for specific prices, Vizio's CTO told Bloomberg that the systems will be available at "a price that just doesn’t seem possible."

Are you excited about Vizio's entry into the PC market? Would you buy one of its laptops or desktops? Let us know in the Talkback section.

[Via Engadget]