Giant TVs are becoming the next big retail commodity

Get the tape measure out, because there appears to be a new trend in entertainment: massive televisions. TVs with giant screens are rising in popularity, and while they are hardly ubiquitous in households, many stores are gearing up for a rise in the sale of these appliances ahead of this holiday season.

The televisions in question, referred to as XXL TVs, are part of an increasing push by electronics manufacturers to cater to a growing market of people who want the "in-home theater" experience. And recent data shows that interest in these products is surging.

What defines an XXL television?

An XXL television is considered to be any TV with a screen measuring at least 97 inches, or 8 feet, diagonally. This makes them "wider than a standard three-seat sofa or a king-size bed," said The Associated Press, and significantly larger than the most common television size in America, which is 55 inches, according to Angie's List.

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But a 97-inch television is only scratching the surface of how big these devices can get; TCL has introduced a 115-inch television, while Samsung sells one that measures 146 inches — more than 12 feet across diagonally.

Why are these TVs becoming more popular?

Some of these televisions are out of reach for most consumers (Samsung's 4K 146-inch TV costs $220,000). But many of them are within people's price range, and "there has been an uptick in purchases of ultra-large TVs," research firm Circana said. The sales for these ultra-large TVs "increased by 21% year-over-year in Q1 2024."

Overall, these TVs are more in demand as the "cost of giant screens sinks sharply, and viewers look to replace the screens they bought during the peak of the pandemic a few years ago," said CNN. Prices for 97-inch televisions have fallen 53% year-to-year, a Circana spokesperson said to CNN, and "sales have soared 877% over the past year."

This isn't to say that these televisions are cheap; most XXL TVs still "range in price between $1,699 to $2,999," said CNN, but stores are working to incentivize purchases by offering things like free installation. These price slashes mean that consumers are looking more toward bigger TVs than smaller ones; at the same time sales for XXL TVs increased 877%, the "sales for models between 75 and 96 inches have gone down," said financial news website TheStreet.

Stores are also responding to the XXL TV demand. Electronics retailer Best Buy has "doubled the assortment of hefty TVs — the 19 models range in price from $2,000 to $25,000," said the AP. The company has also started displaying XXL TVs in 70% of its stores. Even models that were once extremely expensive have started coming down; Samsung introduced its 98-inch model TV in 2019 with a price tag of $99,000, but it "now has four versions starting at $4,000," according to the AP. And consumers seem to be biting.

The "strong growth trend for ultra-large TVs aligns with the increase in 65-inch TV sales from 2018 to 2020, which consumers are now starting to replace five to six years later, in line with what our research suggests is the most common replacement interval," Paul Gagnon, Circana's vice president for consumer technology, said in a report, per CNN. This trend will likely "persist as upgrade activity continues into 2025 and beyond," especially with the holiday gift-giving season on the horizon.