XXL TV sets in unexpectedly high demand all through 2024

For people following industry trends in the TV market since late 2022 this comes as no surprise, but when legacy or mainstream media take notice too, then… well, then it’s official, isn’t it? Consumer displays of 97 inches or more in diagonal – what we once considered “luxury” TV sets only accessible to people with considerable means – are now a commodity thanks to the rise of affordable “XXL” TV sets.

While MicroLED TVs of such sizes cost a small fortune and OLED TVs remain astronomically expensive at 97 inches, TV sets based on much cheaper VA LCD panels offered by Chinese manufacturers TCL and Hisense were able to hit much lower, mainstream prices at some point in 2023 and all though 2024.

The result: as reported by CNN, based on research done by Circana, XXL TVs are now a thing. In the markets tracked by the research firm, TV sets of 97-inch screens or larger have seen a sales increase of almost 900% in the last year or so while – in the same amount of time – TV sets sporting screens between 75 and 96 inches have only seen a 19% increase in sales.

TV sets of 97-inch screens or larger have seen a sales increase of almost 900% in the last year or so – an unexpected jump in consumer interest powered by rapidly decreasing prices.

The percentage difference is massive even if unit sales might not be following the same pattern: more affordable TVs may be moving more units, yes, but it’s clear that more people than ever now prefer XXL TVs than just big TVs as replacements for their current sets. This is not something most people expected to see, let alone see happening in the space of less than two years.

When market competition works, jumbo-sized TVs cost less fast

So what changed? Prices, that’s what. LG, Sony, Samsung and TCL were all able to bring to market 98-inch TVs based on TCL’s VA LCD panels and competition between those brands brought prices down faster than anyone expected. Over the past 12 months alone prices of these extra large TV sets have decreased by 53%, while prices for 75-inch to 96-inch models have been reduced by just 6%.

This difference is also huge, easily explaining interest for these jumbo-sized TV sets: just two short years ago one would have to put down anything between $20K and $30K for a 97-inch or 98-inch television… and now better TV sets than those can be had for less than $5K. Hisense and TCL went even further than that, offering 110-inch and 115-inch TVs respectively for top home projector prices ($15K-$20K), which is kind of crazy just thinking about it in traditional terms.

Circana itself has been talking about consumers interested in getting “more TV for their money” since November 2023, truth be told, in an insight article where XXL TVs were first mentioned as options for people able to spend significant amounts on new television purchases on Black Friday. The research company returned on the subject in June of this year, indicating that not only are consumers inclined to go for larger sizes than 75 inches when replacing their current sets, but that the TV market as a whole is entering an upgrade cycle expected to drive way more units sold than any year in average.

The TV market is entering a new upgrade cycle succeeding that of the pandemic and XXL TV sets are positioned to take full advantage of that.

The reason why? The pandemic, of all things. As most people were confined in their homes for most of 2020 and much of 2021, sales of new TV sets surged. Those TVs will be four or five years old in 2025, meaning that they will either be outdated soon or that they already leave a lot to be desired in terms of picture quality (which has reached new heights since then).

Upgrade cycles for television sets have shortened considerably during the last 15 years or so – now averaging about 5 years in most markets – which is why analysts and retail managers believe that 2025 is going to be an impressive year in terms of replacement TV sales across all price ranges.

Will we have high-quality XXL TVs if picture quality is not important to consumers?

Knowledgeable consumers most interested in watching films and TV shows at home already know that the great majority of these XXL TVs does not pose a threat to the current top TV sets – such as the best OLED and QD-OLED models – in terms of picture quality. Yours truly, owning a Sony 98X90L, can attest to the fact that (despite it being one of the best 98-inchers available right now) it doesn’t hold a candle to the most capable OLED or QD-OLED models offered by LG, Samsung, Panasonic or Sony itself when it comes to sheer picture quality. TCL’s or Hisense’s 4K VA LCD panels set clear limitations on the image displayed, regardless of the backlight system implemented in any 98-inch model.

The thing is, though, that many consumers interested in getting an XXL TV over the next 12-24 months may not care at all about that. A 98-inch or larger TV holds the promise of “cinema-like picture” in the comfort of one’s living room and it’s hard to deny that entertainment content displayed at these sizes can look mightily impressive irrespective of picture quality.

Then there is something to be said about gaming on XXL TVs, too, which is on another level compared to 65- or 75-inch models. These TVs are not for e-sports professionals, obviously, but everyone else will have a blast with cinematic action games or racing games or sports games in 4K. In screen sizes such as these couch multiplayer is also way more fun (for up to four players in titles supporting split screen).

Retail sources also mention sports viewing as a similar use case helped by jumbo-sized TV sets: as many of these sets are able to divide the picture displayed in four parts – essentially offering four 1080p screens in a tile configuration, drawing content from different sources – sports fans can watch as many as four matches or events on the same TV at once. There are lots of consumers out there that would be willing to pay the price of admission for an XXL TV based on that kind of functionality alone.

XXL TVs are great for entertainment content, as well as for gaming and sports viewing, in a way that expensive home projectors never were.

The rise of XXL TVs was inevitable: television sets had only been getting bigger since the ’00s anyway and millions of people have been dreaming of “bringing cinema home” for the better part of four decades. These huge TV sets are as close as mainstream consumers can get to enjoying something akin to a true cinematic experience without building a proper – but highly demanding in space and budget – dedicated home cinema.

What’s kind of worrying right now is that this “race to the bottom” in terms of retail pricing happened unusually fast in this particular case. What’s more, it looks like it will continue all through the next year precisely because – if consumers don’t seem to care about picture quality all that much when it comes to these TVs – manufacturers will only be able to compete on price. That would lead them to cutting lots of corners, which would lead to a lot of mediocre or plain bad TVs just sporting huge screens.

Here’s hope, then, that this fascinating segment of the TV market finds a semblance of balance sooner rather than later, so consumers can have several quality options at different price points to choose from. Roll on, 2025!