‘43-inch Vizio… 50-inch Roku’: Man catches Walmart lowering TV prices early. But why are they so cheap?

As the holiday season is just around the corner, shoppers are already looking for the best deals to catch before the festivities begin. 

Yet, with stores trying to stay ahead of the curve, one shopper has already noticed a drop in prices that could well surpass that of any Black Friday deal.

After walking into his local Walmart recently, TikToker Dillen (@Dillencan) filmed himself wandering through the tech isles, astonished at what he found. As a professional TV mounter in Maryland and D.C., Dillen gave his two cents on the topic. Receiving 35,800 views and 704 likes, Dillen titles the video “Crazy Affordable TVs."

“So I was walking around Walmart as I usually do,” Dillen begins. “And I was scrolling in the TV aisle, and I noticed how abnormally cheap the TVs are right now.”

Staring directly at the camera, Dillen shows his astonishment.

“It’s giving. Let’s drop the prices on TVs before Black Friday. Cause Black Friday is when they sell you cheap TVs for cheap prices,” Dillen says. 

He's onto something.

$168 and under for some big, brand-name TVs

“Right now, you can get a regular quality TV for a really affordable price,” Dillen says.

He flips the camera around to show the merchandise. 

“43-inch Vizio for $168, it’s crazy,” Dillen says. 

And these prices aren’t just in-store, they’re online too. 

“We have a 43-inch TCL for $148, that’s crazy. We have a 50-inch Roku TV for $198, that’s beautiful,” Dillen says.

He continues to walk around the store, showing viewers each individual price for the new Television sets. 

“It’s like play money, toy money,” Dillen jokes. 

Dillen concludes his viewing by reminding viewers that these full HD TVs aren’t all in the newest 4K quality. But according to Dillen, many people may not notice the difference, especially kids. 

Why are Roku, Vizio, TCL TVs so cheap at Walmart?

That there has been a substantial decrease in the cost of new TVs over the years. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for television are 86.30% lower in 2024 versus 2010. But the question is… Why? 

“We have TV’s in almost every room and NOBODY watches them anymore! Everybody in my house [is] glued to their phones. TV’s are dinosaurs now,” one commenter says.

“I noticed that too, but the thing is people don’t watch much TV anymore, that's another reason why they’re so cheap,” another guessed. 

While smartphone-usage is a great assumption, it may also have to do with the increase in Smart TVs. Over the last decade, TV consumers have made a vast shift from traditional cable to subscription-based networks and services, like Netflix and Disney+.

And through these subscriptions, Smart TVs are able to collect and track user data, selling it to advertisers to allow for ads-supported streaming best suited per consumer. Therefore incentivising TV manufacturers to lower their prices as revenue sales increase via data-sales. 

Of course, data-sharing can be modified by TV owners through their individual television’s security settings. But it is always good to be aware. 

Now this isn’t the only reason why prices have decreased. Of course as technology advances, manufacturing does as well. And as advancements in the manufacturing industry have made it easier for companies to compete, market prices have been seen to drive down as well. 

@dillencan

Get a few of these and store them in the basement for Christmas! ????

♬ original sound - Dillen | TV Mounting DMV

So while Dillen is rightfully shocked at the low television costs at his local Walmart, these prices haven’t simply just appeared. Rather they are to accurately reflect the television market and consumer switch to Smart TVs.

The Daily Dot reached out to Dillen (@Dillencan) via TikTok Direct Message and Walmart via their media relations page.

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