Super giant TVs are flying off store shelves

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN

New York (CNN) — One of the biggest gifts this holiday season won’t fit under the tree, the chimney or even in some homes.

Televisions that measure 97 inches (and more) diagonally across – a.k.a. XXL TVs – are becoming a huge hit 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.

Sales of gigantic screens are a bright spot for the TV manufacturing industry, amid stagnant sales for the overall category, according to research firm Circana.

Best Buy is adding XXL TVs to 70% of its 940 stores in the United States in response to demand from its customers, the country’s largest electronics retailer recently announced.

Because of improving technology and cheaper prices of components and manufacturing, prices for 98-inch TVs have fallen 53% compared to a year ago, a Circana spokesperson told CNN. Sales have soared 877% over the past year. By contrast, prices for televisions 75 inches through 96 inches have declined 6% with sales up just 19% this year.

Ultra-large televisions still aren’t cheap: Many of the options range in price between $1,699 to $2,999, and Best Buy is offering free delivery plus installation with purchase.

Still, the growing popularity of XXL TVs could help Best Buy climb out of a series of downbeat quarters. The company and its rivals have been hurt by customers cutting back on discretionary spending because of inflation. Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said in the company’s most recent earnings release that customers are “willing to spend on high price point products when they need to or when there is new compelling technology.”

“We’re seeing growing interest from shoppers in XXL TVs, especially as the technology gets better and more options are available at a variety of prices,” Blake Hampton, senior vice president of merchandising at Best Buy, said in a release.

Target, Costco and Walmart also have similar XXL TVs on sale ahead of the holiday season.

XXL TVs are mirroring the growth of what four years ago were considered extra-large televisions: 65-inch models that customers scooped up during the pandemic. Stuck at home, many people upgraded their televisions in 2020 so they could experience bigger and better picture quality.

Since then, TV sales have slumped badly. But with those now-four-year old televisions starting to get long in the tooth for some impatient customers, XXL TVs represent an attractive upgrade.

“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 recent report. “We expect this trend to persist as upgrade activity continues into 2025 and beyond.”

One particular feature of interest for buyers is the multi-view option. Rather than squinting at several different sports happening at once, a 97-inch TV splits the screen up into four, 48-inch boxes making it easier to watch the different events, Best Buy said.

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