Upstart Vizio is top flat-screen TV seller for now

“Being small, you don’t have a lot of choice,” Wang said. “When someone knocks on the door, you say yes.”

When Gateway exited the TV business and shuttered all its retail stores in 2004, Wang struck out on his own. He changed the name of the company to Vizio and adopted the slogan “Where vision meets value.”

What he took from Gateway was the emphasis on marketing to cost-conscious consumers and the strategy of not relying on a single supplier or assembler, but outsourcing widely to keep costs down.

“I’m a geek. I love technology. But I believe technology shouldn’t be super expensive,” Wang said.

Today, the company runs a lean operation, with only 85 corporate employees. About 10 percent of assembly work is done in Mexico, the rest in Asia.

The company plans to do more assembly in Mexico but so far has no plans to bring the work into the U.S., as low-cost rival Syntax-Brillian Corp. has. So in that way Vizio won’t take on the all-American feel of former American TV stalwarts like Zenith or RCA.

Last year, Vizio spent about $5 million on marketing to build its brand. The company has boosted its ad budget to $35 million to lure sports fans, who are big buyers of high-def sets.

Vizio has also broadened its line, offering high-definition sets in the highest quality and adding the kind of high-tech features normally found on more expensive name-brand sets.

Wang believes Vizio will benefit as cable and satellite companies boost their high-def content and consumers replace their analog TVs with digital.

“I believe we’ll still enjoy the growth rate we’ve been having the last 12 months because this segment will explode,” Wang said.

Young agrees, adding that that people may buy a more expensive set for the living room but will likely look for cheaper flat-panel TVs to replace sets in other parts of the house.

“The strategy has legs,” Young said.

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