With the improvement in living standards and a diversification of audio-visual consumption needs, so China’s TV market has evolved into a big-screen competition. Bigger than the rest of the world, more immersive, offering customisations and low prices.
A recent monthly report tracking the global market has recently that the average size of LCD TV screens had increased from 46.1 inches in 2022 to 47.9 inches during the first half of 2023.
But China is once again bucking the trend, by a wide margin. By June this year, the average size of screens sold in the country had exceeded 60 inches. Indeed, screen sizes of 75 inches have now become the mainstream.
Go into a big-name screen retailer in today’s China and you will likely find the smallest screen on sale is 75 inches in size, while the largest can be as big as 98 inches.
But just how much are all these inches going to cost you? According to differences in resolution, performance and screen size, LCD TV prices range from approximately ¥6,000 to ¥40,000 or even ¥50,000. For the more-economically minded, a 75-inch TV can today be had for a little over ¥8,000.
Speaking with Nanjing Daily, a brand salesperson keenly emphasised, “In today’s living rooms, the viewing distance is about 3 metres; the size of the TV need be at least 75 inches to achieve the best viewing effect”.
Quite a few consumers appear to have been listening to her. According to consumption data from Suning.com, since July of this year, sales of large-screen TVs of 75 inches or more have increased significantly year on year, by 105 percent in fact.
Overall though, the market for screens shrank in the first half of this year, with 14.67 million units shipped, representing sales of ¥48.7 billion, a year on year decline of 12.2 percent. Against the background of relatively-sluggish market demand, the retail-volume share of 75-inch screen TVs increased by 7.1 percent year on year.
Part of this performance has been down to customisations of super-size screens, explained Wang Lingjun, President of Suning.com’s intelligent internet division. “TVs have gradually transformed from a single-viewing device to a multi-scenario, fusion-display terminal. With the iteration of screen technology, the price of large-screen TVs has also continued to drop, while more and more consumers prefer the immersion experience they can deliver”, said Wang.
Therefore, Suning.com has joined forces with Hisense, Skyworth and other leading brands to launch more than 20 large customised screens. Since July, sales of such branded, customised products have accounted for nearly 30 percent of total sales.
A Mr. Cai in Nanjing is one purchaser of such. At the end of July, he replaced his 60-inch TV at home with a 75-inch customised screen. Cai is an avid video gamer; his customised set up can connect to a game console and offers 3D surround sound.
Cai said, “The picture effect is quite a shock! My customisations cost another ¥10,000 in the end, but I think it is worth it”.
