Is TV Dead? Global TV Shipments Hit a Decade Low in 2023

That's because there's no reason for most people to buy another TV. The majority of people who would want one already have a TV, and there has been no technological advancement in the last decade or two that would entice anyone to throw away their already perfectly acceptable large LCD/OLED/whatever television just to buy another one just like it.

The only thing anyone has been able to come up with is making all TV's internet connected and "smart," which is a feature that approximately nobody except the MBA's in charge of the companies cranking them out seems to actually want.

Make more dumb TVs and my interest in buying a new one goes up significantly. Im actively avoiding buying a new one even though I have to furninsh a good sized living room and all I have right now is a bit small for the space. It'll still work.

With some exceptions, enthusiasm in technology is in decline in general. We are peaking in terms of rate of progress across the board, from computer speed to smart phone innovation to TV specs. When's the last time ordinary folks got excited about a new phone release? Who cares about a TV larger than 60 inches? It's not like most people can even afford a wall big enough to put it on. Who cares about anything more than 4k on a tiny screen?

Meanwhile, the cost of living is only increasing, and consumer trust in product life support is in decline. Stories about TVs listening to private conversations, or holding your device hostage for forced TOS updates, anti-right to repair, the mountain of e-waste and micro plastics, pervasive DRM, enshitified services, subscription hardware...

Should we be surprised? No.

The only thing that gets me excited about tech any more is repairability and offline/local networking.

Most of them are dead to me. Sell me a dumb TV or sell me nothing.

My last two purchases were a 32" PC monitor for the guest room and a projector for the main room. Both connected to a Roku and media center PC.

I dunno if TV is dead per se as we all enjoy watching shows/movies. Not really interested in gimmicks - we only have 4K as all new TV's are 4K & we only got it because our previous TV failed & they can no longer be repaired.

All i want is a good quality dumb screen. You can stick all your smart features where the sun dont shine, I'll handle everything via a separate box that I control thank you. I'll not be at the mercy of your shitty EULA, you won't monitor my viewing habits or force ads into the UI or remove your dogshit apps without warning. Our TV has never been online, HTPC with a couple of USB TV tuners, uBlock Origin, an interface of my choosing, remote control & lots of storage handles everything. Still perfectly happy watching SD stuff, the only 4K we watch is YouTube.

Don’t forget enshittification. I use my TV less and only streaming but am really frustrated by ever more intrusive ads and surveillance. Sometimes I’m just too annoyed to turn on the big TV.

Mine is only 3 years old, but I can definitely see not bothering to get a new one when it’s old, unless they start making dumb TVs again. There are plenty of screens in the house and done of them are less annoying to use

I'll keep my dumb TVs and monitors over a spysmart tv anytime. Can't wait for them to roll out pay-to-use-tv next.

4K came out in 2012 and 8K just isn't that popular, in part due to content issues but also people's eyesight. If you don't need a new TV now, why would you buy an upgrade?

Gizmochina doesn’t understand that physical TV sales has nothing to do with “TV being dead,” what a disconnect here.

“TV is dead” because it is full of ads, and crap nobody watches, not because global flat screen TV sales are down.

They'll pry my 10-year old non-smart TV out of my dead cold hands. It's a 1080p Toshiba that can connect to anything (4x HDMI, VGA, composite, component, SCART, coax and satellite), has a CI/CI+ slot, has DLNA support, and can record/replay using a USB SSD. The only regret I have is that I should've bought the larger model.

I'm pretty sure that PEOPLE ALREADY OWN A TV and probably can't afford to replace it.
I have no intention of replacing mine.

Well they aren't alive especially when my TV asked me to sign this no lawsuit BS

My dumb TV is 15 years old. It’s a bit small for the space and there’s a W burned into it but you can only see it on static screens.

I would like a new one but it’s pretty low down on the list of things I need to buy with the 37p I manage to save each month.

Market's saturated. Why do analysts not understand this? Once you hit a certain size you don't get much more from a new tv.

Maybe if they werent all packed full of preinstalled shit that takes up what measily space is available, didn't force ads into the menus, and actually had real smart features not the half assed bullshit they put out.. People might upgrade TVs..

Also.. The content just isn't there these days. Movies are crap and rehashes of the same old shit, series are generic and characterless and even music sounds shitter than it used to be.

Fuck all your media whether its social or propaganda you bunch of nosy data mining cunts.. The next phase is going to be worse with empty AI generated shit with zero originality.

I won't buy another tv. Only dumb monitors now.

I bought a projector not too long ago. I'll never go back.

Projector guy here. Once you get a taste you don't wanna go back. The tech has gotten so much better over the last 10 years and short throw projectors are a game changer.

It's not just the technology. Why buy a TV when the subscriptions cost a fortune and the shows are crap? We have the Internet now, and watch less TV than before.

Go back to selling "dumb" sets and I'd buy 4 brand new, big TVs right now. Seriously, I would replace both of my existing TV's and finally get ones for the other major rooms in my house almost immediately. But I won't, because all you can get now are smart TVs and smart TVs are just fucking awful.

Tvs peaked with oled

Has there really been a killer must-have feature from TVs in the last couple of years? If yours is still working is there a need to buy another?

I just don't want to own a smart tv, so I'll stick with what I have.

I have Jellyfin stream old sitcom reruns almost all day while I work. I just don't need to upgrade all that often.

Okay, so people have less disposable income than they did a few years ago, and less need for indoor entertainment devices than they did during the pandemic. Is it really surprising that fewer purchases are being made? (Plus, did they include "digital signage" and monitors with HDMI inputs when they were compiling the statistics?)

Yes. We never watch. The kids prefer the iPads .... Amazon fires, but don't tell them...

I've never seen my son scrolling tv channels. Tv to him it just a large tablet.

I don't remember when I watched the telly at home previously. Most of my entertainment are games and then some YouTube and movies not so often (lurking in friend's online streaming services or googling "watch x for free").

Stopped watching the television when too many ads erupted even between the movies that were my last interest in this service.

Most of my telly shows I see nowadays are at a friend's place, and I'm every time annoyed about the amount of ads.

Based on this dip, what do we think the industry will try to push on us to get us to upgrade? Are we see them start to push 8k content or 3D again or "smarter" tv's?

I bought a tv like 8 years ago, the day the warranty went it got issues.

Some annoying bullshit (according to google) has to do with magnets and they are all visible now, it looks like shit but i really don't give a damn as i rarely care for what is on as long as it's making sound i don't need to hear the neighbours.

All i could think was: it still works, fuck this company i'm keeping it.

I have a TV for when I have time to play games on my PS3 or PS4 these days, but I watch the vast majority of my stuff on my computer. Unless I'm watching something that's available in 4K that I feel is worth it, why would I bother going to another room just to watch stuff that is streaming off my NAS and accessible on my computer anyway?

I feel like a lot of people just don't have much reason to turn on their TV to watch stuff unless they still have cable and want to watch live sports.

I haven't had TV at home for over 7 years now. Never miss it. I thought most peoole would do the same but surprised to see everyone still cares about watching TV broadcasts for some reason. The internet is much better.