Sales of TVs over 97 inches, commonly known as XXL TVs, have skyrocketed in the past year due to a significant drop in prices, as per the latest stats from research company Circana. In the markets Circana monitors, sales of these massive TVs have jumped by an incredible 877 percent compared to last year, while the sales of TVs ranging from 75 to 96 inches have only seen a modest increase of 19 percent.
A major reason behind this trend is the huge drop in the average price of 98-inch TVs, which has plummeted by 53% compared to last year. In contrast, the prices for 75- to 96-inch TVs have only seen a slight decrease of 6%. Brands like LG, Samsung, Sony, and TCL are now rolling out 98-inch TVs featuring TCL CSOT VA LCD panels, while Hisense has 100-inch models with BOE VA LCD panels. On the flip side, LG’s 97-inch 4K OLED TVs and Samsung’s Micro LED TVs are still way too pricey for most shoppers.
Analytics company Circana points out that the increase in XXL TVs is due to people replacing the TVs they bought during the pandemic, and they believe this trend will keep going in the next few years.
Our research shows that the surge in ultra-large TV sales aligns with the increase in 65-inch TV sales from 2018 to 2020. Consumers are now looking to replace those TVs after about five to six years, which seems to be the typical timeframe for upgrades, according to Paul Gagnon, vice president and industry consultant for consumer tech at Circana.