Walmart and Amazon to Dominate North American Smart TVs by 2029

February 9, 2026 by guest author, Antonia Hamberger

Retailers are set to significantly expand their influence in the North American TV operating system (OS) market over the next few years, according to Omdia’s latest TV Design & Features Tracker. Retailer-driven platforms like Amazon’s Fire TV and Walmart’s CastOS are forecast to account for 47% of the region’s TV OS market by 2029, up from 27% in 2025.

Following the acquisition of Vizio in 2024, Walmart has increased CastOS unit shipments from 4.8 million units in 2024 to a projected 6.6 million units in 2025, representing a 37.5% growth. Amazon’s FireTV shipments are also rising, from 6.1 million units in 2024 to 6.8 million in 2025, an 11.5% increase. Omdia anticipates an inflection point in 2027, when Walmart’s CastOS shipments reach 14.0 million units. By 2029, CastOS is expected to reach 14.8 million units, while Amazon FireTV will hit 8.8 million units, together representing nearly half of a projected 50 million-unit North American market.

This growth not only signifies an increase in TV shipments for those two retail giants but an expansion of their advertising and retail media business: Walmart’s $2.3 billion acquisition of Vizio gave the retailer access to 18 million active SmartCast accounts, Vizio’s proprietary Smart TV platform. These connected TVs already support hundreds of direct advertising relationships, providing Walmart with a channel to target consumers with contextual ads based on both online and in-store shopping behavior.

“While there’s very little profit in hardware, advertising is driving the majority of Vizio’s gross profit,” Omdia noted, highlighting that platforms like CastOS and Amazon’s Fire TV are increasingly being viewed as media and commerce engines rather than just TV operating systems. Amazon has long been the model of this approach, using its Fire TV platform and Prime Video to connect media, e-commerce, and advertising.