The smart TV is no longer just the display panel. It is increasingly defined by the operating system (OS), advertising inventory, and user viewing data that powers the screen, says Omdia – in a report authored by Research Director Ken Park.

Over the past three years, the smart TV data and platform war has evolved rapidly. It began with Walmart’s move into the market, continued with restructuring among traditional TV vendors such as TCL and Sony, and has now reached a stage where major media giants, including Fox, are taking direct control of the ‘gateways’ to large, connected TV ecosystems.

Walmart’s February 2024 announcement confirmed the all-cash acquisition of smart TV manufacturer Vizio for $2.3 billion. The transaction closed on December 3rd 2024, establishing Vizio as a wholly-owned Walmart subsidiary. Strategically, Walmart has since withdrawn Vizio from all third-party retail channels, repositioning it as an exclusive private brand available only at Walmart and Sam’s Club.

This move underscores that the acquisition was not simply about expanding Walmart’s hardware business. It was about a retail giant seizing control of living room screens and consumer data, with the aim of accelerating e-commerce growth and creating new advertising revenue streams, notes Omdia.

This transaction reflects the difficult market reality facing TV hardware, where device sales alone can no longer generate significant profit. The subsequent joint venture establishment between Sony and TCL also signals major changes in the traditional TV hardware market. However, a closer look at the new Bravia joint venture reveals that the cost of acquiring Sony’s TV and audio business divisions is less than one-third of the Vizio acquisition cost, suggesting a much lower valuation for traditional hardware assets.

The recent Fox-Roku combination, valued at $22 billion—more than nine times the Walmart-Vizio acquisition—is expected to have a major impact on the global digital advertising market.

To explain this more simply: Walmart could use purchase data to identify a consumer who bought diapers in-store, connect that insight with parenting-related TV viewing behavior in their living room, and then serve formula advertisements at a relevant moment. This could help Walmart increase product sales while also raising advertising rates through campaigns backed by both advertising companies and sales data.

Fox, meanwhile, could sell advertisements during NFL games at higher prices by using viewing data from Roku platform’s, which reaches 100 million households, to target audiences more precisely.

Ultimately, the competitive landscape of TV OS is shifting from a battle among TV manufacturers into a broader contest involving retail, media, and technology companies. Supporting this trend, Walmart recently announced the acquisition of Vibe.co, a streaming TV advertising technology company, for approximately $1.4 billion. This clearly demonstrates Walmart’s ambition to expand its advertising business and attract small and medium-sized advertisers. As a result, this could serve as a catalyst for the transformation of traditional TV advertising into a data-driven and programmatic advertising ecosystem.

In the past, the OS war was led by big tech companies and traditional TV vendors, including Google (Android TV), Samsung (Tizen), and LG (webOS). Now, major companies from retail and media are entering the smart TV ecosystem with significant capital and powerful strategic assets. Walmart brings its Retail Media Networks (RMN), while Fox brings live sports and news content.

Sony is effectively expected to reduce its direct role in manufacturing through its joint venture spin-off. Vizio has been absorbed by retail, while Roku is moving closer to the media ecosystem. The message is unambiguous: the core asset in smart TV is no longer just the display panel. It’s the OS, advertising inventory, and user viewing data that power the screen.

Samsung, the global TV market leader, has responded with urgency. In May 2026, the company replaced the head of its Visual Display business division—a former TV research & development leader—with a its global marketing executive. This signals a structural pivot as Samsung works to defend its position in the rapidly evolving smart TV platform market. LG Electronics continues to aggressively promote its webOS expansion strategy. Meanwhile, Chinese manufacturers are driving down prices on ultra-large-screen TVs and steadily capturing global volume share beyond their home market.

Rising costs for LCD panels and semiconductors are putting pressure on traditional TV manufacturers’ profit structures, yet these increased costs have not been passed on to consumers. Competing against retail and media giants with fundamentally different business models represents an entirely new competitive paradigm—one that extends beyond traditional industry boundaries. These new entrants prioritize active user growth and engagement time, because their advertising and e-commerce revenues scale with platform usage. Consequently, they can afford to be far less sensitive to component costs than traditional hardware-focused manufacturers.

Overall, North American market share trends for Vizio OS and Roku will serve as critical leading indicators for the evolving competitive dynamics among retail, media, and manufacturing players in the Smart TV ecosystem, concluded the Omdia report.

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Categories: Articles, Connected TV, Equipment, OTT, Research

Tags: Fox, Omdia, roku, Vizio, Walmart