TV Product Life Cycle Analysis: A Decade of Experience: Over the past decade, my extensive research on televisions has provided insight into the key factors influencing television price dynamics. While conventional wisdom suggests a correlation between TV prices and specific events, my findings suggest that this is not entirely true; the product’s sales life cycle and market dynamics matter.
TV sales cycle: Key findings
The TV market goes through certain phases, including product launch, sales stability, and decline. A strategic understanding of this life cycle is fundamental to making informed buying decisions.
Strategic navigation: changing TV prices. Let’s look at an example: TVs from 2023 to 2024.
In the case of 2023 and 2024 TVs, the tone is set by the annual CES show held in the first quarter. Anticipation of new models and a natural drop in demand leads to discounts on 2023 models. However, the 2024 models have yet to go on sale, causing the market to freeze in anticipation temporarily.
Quarterly trend: Unraveling price patterns. Sales of 2024 TVs begin in the second quarter, and initial prices reflect the maximum markup – typically, new TVs are 20% more expensive. At the same time, prices for 2023 TVs fell to a minimum, as they fell into the obsolete category and needed to be sold quickly.
In the third quarter, prices for 2024 TVs begin to meet market expectations, and the remaining 2023 inventory is offered at deep discounts to liquidate inventory. With the onset of the fourth quarter, some retailers begin to sell off 2023 models, realizing that they will inevitably move to two-year status in the coming months.
In the fourth quarter, the focus shifts to selling off 2023 TVs, marking a strategic discount window. While 2024 models may see modest price reductions, retailers prioritize liquidating older inventory, leading to more substantial discounts on outgoing models.
The start of a new cycle: As the first quarter of 2024 begins, the cycle repeats itself: CES introduces new models, generates anticipation, and influences price dynamics.
Strategic Shopping: Utilizing Retailer Promotions
Critical shopping periods, especially Black Friday and Cyber Monday, provide opportunities to get significant discounts on consumer electronics. Retailers looking to capture market share often use competitive pricing strategies during these events, making them favorable to potential TV buyers. The retailer looks at stock balances to see which TV models have the most in stock and how many more TVs he will get under contract, and decides on discounts. He may have a lot of expensive TVs and there is a significant risk of not selling them when new models are released, in which case huge discounts of up to 30% are possible.
When Is the Best Time to Buy a TV?
For those looking to capitalize on cost-effectiveness and not favoring the latest model, the first quarter of the year, especially March, becomes a strategic period to purchase TVs. This advice is justified by a confluence of factors in the consumer electronics market.
This advice is especially valuable for those who don’t care about the specific model year of a TV. By giving up the chase for the latest new products, shoppers can use this strategic window in March to realize substantial savings on TVs while still enjoying a quality viewing experience.
Should you watch TV in the store before purchasing?
My answer is yes; it should be done without fail. , Nowadays it so happens that TVs, depending on the model, can have completely different quality screens. I recommend recording the video on a flash drive and bringing it to the store. Record the video in Full HD and see how the TV scales the picture. Record video in 4K at frame rates of 60 and 120 and see how the TV handles those formats. If you ask to play the video, you can see how the TV handles the picture and the quality of the video.
Beware of buzzing ads
It’s no secret that many manufacturers in advertising sometimes hide the truth; yes, they try not to lie openly, as it may entail liability, but a little understatement or telling half-truths, yes, it happens.
Here is an example: support for HDR is stated in every TV, but there are TV models that cannot show a quality picture. For example, in budget TV, the TV processor can process HDR, but the screen with a color depth of 8 bits and dithering can show only a tiny part of HDR because such screens do not meet the standard HDR. The TV can process the signal but cannot display it, however the TV supports HDR in the technical specifications.
