How much cheaper can Televisions get?

[kdonnel]

I just saw a stack of 32 inch TVs at Walmart for $89.

How on earth is there any profit at that price point? It would seem just the cost of packing materials and shipping from the point of manufacture would be 20% of the purchase cost.

 

[OhMari]

TV's have been so overly priced for so long.
But you do pay for what you get. Those tv's may only last you a year or two.

I think what makes me upset is the over priced cell phones.
Sorry for going off subject, but your post made me think what is over priced and I am waiting for the day for these to go down in price.

 

[JaxDad]

My TV stopped working several years ago. A normal person would have just replaced it, probably with something better at a much cheaper price from WalMart. I'm such a geek, I actually did some YouTube research, removed the back of the set, found a couple blown capacitors, bought some new ones on Amazon, then soldered them in. It's still working! I do need to get a smart TV at some point though. I run all my streaming stuff through an 8-year old Wii console!

 

[Klayfish]

Wonder if demand for TVs is dropping somewhat? Plenty of younger people don't watch much at all. They look at their phones or tablets/computer screens for entertainment.

 

[cvjw]

Mounted our tv over our fireplace last year. Needed a 55 inch smart tv to fill in the space. Found one at Costco for $350. Could not believe how cheap it was.

My 22 year old just bought a 55 inch CURVED Samsung smart tv for $600 at Best Buy. Those used to be $1000+ not that long ago.

 

[ChrisFL]

I think overall the technology used is just getting easier to produce and, yes, people aren't buying TV's as frequently as they used to, they're being replaced by tablets, smartphones, PC monitors, etc. and most people at this point already own large, good quality TV's.

That's part of the reason the industry kept coming up with new gimmic...erm, reasons to buy new TV's, with 3D, curved screens, etc.

I have a 50" plasma TV that's a decade old and I don't have a big need to replace it.

 

[firefly_ris]

My TV stopped working several years ago. A normal person would have just replaced it, probably with something better at a much cheaper price from WalMart. I'm such a geek, I actually did some YouTube research, removed the back of the set, found a couple blown capacitors, bought some new ones on Amazon, then soldered them in. It's still working! I do need to get a smart TV at some point though. I run all my streaming stuff through an 8-year old Wii console!

IMO, Roku > Smart TV. I've had more than one of both of those... Roku still wins as far as versatility and speed.

 

[RedAngie]

A fair amount of those cheap-o Walmart TVs are returned for being poor quality.

As for decreasing prices, yeah, I remember the first TV I bought circa 1984 was about $350 for a 19" color portable.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Wonder if demand for TVs is dropping somewhat? Plenty of younger people don't watch much at all. They look at their phones or tablets/computer screens for entertainment.

I think we’re reaching the point of diminished returns. There’s been a decade+ rush to the thin, flat screens along with bigger screens. 4K is already “too advanced” for the signal it receives & they’re pushing UHD. Everyone already has a nice set now & there's no real reason to upgrade unless you’re going much, much larger.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I still remember buying my first tv as an adult, it was a 32 inch screen but back then there was much more to a tv than just the screen measurements--the plastic housing was huge! It makes me laugh because I just bought my son a 32inch computer monitor with some sort of especially fast refresh rate and it still cost less than I paid for that old tv!

 

[LYSE]

TV's have always had very little margin in them, I can't say for sure but my guess is those Tv's were cheap to begin with and now Walmart got them at an even lower price because they are now last years cheap tech


Good TV's still cost good money but there is indeed a flooded market when it comes to cheap sets where the only requirement is pretty much that they display some kind of reasonable image.

 

[yoopermom]

I roll my eyes on Black Friday at all the people buying multiple tvs, I wonder do they replace all their tvs every year?!? Call me old, but I still LOVE my 55" Panasonic Plasma tv (no longer being made, sob), and it's "smart enough" with my Amazon Firestick and DISH Hopper. (And with the DISH anywhere app I can watch stored programs off my DVR on my laptop or Kindle Fire anywhere I have wifi.)

If you read reputable reviews, you still get what you pay for. And many people buy one too big for their viewing area, or with too many fancy doodads that really aren't supported yet (looking at you 4K/UHD). Plus, many showrooms have them set up in a way that is not reflective of the picture you will get at home, and too many consumers don't realize that, and are disappointed.

Get off my porch, and take your cheap crappy new tv with you .

Terri

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I paid $160 for my HD TV at P.C Richard & Son earlier this year. Before that, I had a TV that survived for 30 years before finally going on the fritz. They don't make 'em like they used to and I'm waiting to see how long my new TV lasts.

EDITED TO ADD: I forgot to mention the old TV was dropped during a move and still worked just fine. I defy one of these new TVs to splat the pavement and still run.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I just saw a stack of 32 inch TVs at Walmart for $89.

How on earth is there any profit at that price point? It would seem just the cost of packing materials and shipping from the point of manufacture would be 20% of the purchase cost.

Cheap TVs from China that will last 2 years if you're lucky and aren't up to today's standards as far as performance.

 

[kimblebee]

A fair amount of those cheap-o Walmart TVs are returned for being poor quality.

As for decreasing prices, yeah, I remember the first TV I bought circa 1984 was about $350 for a 19" color portable.

My grandpa bought me my first tv in 1997. It is a 19” tube tv and it still works lol

I use it every day in my workspace at home to listen to music.

 

[Klayfish]

Cheap TVs from China that will last 2 years if you're lucky and aren't up to today's standards as far as performance.

I would sort of debate that. If you're looking for a top of the line TV with all the bells and whistles, certainly you won't get that for $99. But if you want a decent and basic TV, I see nothing wrong with the WalMart special. We've got 4 of them in our house...one in each bedroom. They're between 3-4 years old each and work great. Picture quality is fine and we've had no issues with any of them. Even if they broke today, I'd go buy them again. 3-4 years of use for $99 isn't a bad deal. We actually get more trouble from our $600 Vizio TV.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We bought our first flat screen TV with our wedding present money 10 years ago and it was about $1500 for a 48 inch maybe. I recently got a 32 inch Smart TV for my home office for $199. It is CRAZY how the price has dropped in 10 years.

 

[luvsJack]

I would sort of debate that. If you're looking for a top of the line TV with all the bells and whistles, certainly you won't get that for $99. But if you want a decent and basic TV, I see nothing wrong with the WalMart special. We've got 4 of them in our house...one in each bedroom. They're between 3-4 years old each and work great. Picture quality is fine and we've had no issues with any of them. Even if they broke today, I'd go buy them again. 3-4 years of use for $99 isn't a bad deal. We actually get more trouble from our $600 Vizio TV.

I completely agree. We bought a very much recommended expensive set and dvd player from Best Buy, a couple of months later on Black Friday we bought two sets for bedrooms and two dvd players (the dvd players may have been $20).

The expensive set lasted about 2 years. The DVD player about 5. The Walmart sets? Still working. This was 10 years ago. Both kids have now moved out, took their sets and replaced them for bigger ones. Both still have those little cheap DVD players, one has given it to HIS kids.

We replaced the Best Buy set with one from Sams. Still works great.

 

[Imzadi]

Certain sizes are cheaper than others as they are the more popular sizes. As others have said, the quality of the TV could be the lowest quality, even for an "HD" TV. When I bought my 40" TV, I was debating over getting this HD Smart TV over getting a better quality 1080p TV for double the price. Since I was upgrading from a real old analog TV that had the huge plastic casing and weighted a ton, ANY upgrade in quality would be better than I had. So, did I really need 1080p for double the price?

I decided to just get the cheaper HD Smart TV. Some of the reviews warned that the picture is great, but the SOUND was horrible. I should have heeded them. The speakers are on the back of the TV, so the sound goes out in the wrong direction than a front facing speaker. To add on good speakers, I will have to invest another $200 for decent speakers.

Yet, it turns out, it's a good thing I didn't get the 1080p Smart TV after all. The technology for ALL smart TVs changed & upgraded the following year. If I want to use any streaming/casting service, almost all of them require TVs made in 2014 or late. My TV is a 2013, and the apps will not work with it even though it is a "smart TV." The software inside is NOT upgradeable. I have to do a workaround, like stream/cast from my computer or smartphone using an HDMI cable or dongle attached to the TV and just use the TV as a large screen monitor.

OR, of course, buy a newer (cheap) TV with newer Smart TV software. So no more buying expensive, top of the line TVs or computers or cellphones for me. The technology changes too quickly to be paying high prices. The cheap TV in the OP that may only last 2 years - well the technology may change in 2 years anyway, making it obsolete. Better to throw away an $89 TV than a $500 TV. (Although not better for the environment. )

 

[Cadiewampus]

I just saw a stack of 32 inch TVs at Walmart for $89.

How on earth is there any profit at that price point? It would seem just the cost of packing materials and shipping from the point of manufacture would be 20% of the purchase cost.

Funny a couple a weeks ago myself and one of my buddies were in walmart getting some stuff and saw the same display. We had the same conversation.