May Day
China’s May Day holiday, aka Labor Day, celebrates the contributions and dedication of China’s workers, although in recent years it has also become another one of China’s ‘Shopping holidays”. The official holiday is a weeklong (including weekends) but has become two weeks if you include the extra week of pre-holiday sales. We have access to data on May Day holiday TV sales in China, along with the same for National Day, a slightly longer (unofficial) that comes in mid-September. By putting the sales data together for 2024 and 2025 we can see the trend in TV size sold during the three periods between May Day 2024, National Day 2024 and May Day 2025.
Of course, the Chinese trade press has been extoling the ‘massive’ growth in large TV sets, essentially those between 85” and 100”, so we were curious as to the validity of those claims, but we also note that China’s “New for Old” rebate program, which offers rebates on all TV sets that meet certain energy guidelines with a maximum of $272 (US) per set, remains in effect, which skews sales to larger sizes. On a gross basis, the in-store size average of TV sets sold in China during this year’s May Day was 71.4”, up 2.0” from last year, while that average in online stores was 62.7”, up 2.5” y/y. While 98” and 100” sets increased by large percentages y/y the actual volumes for these large sets are still small (23,537 combined for May Day 2025), while 85” set volume was almost 5 times the number of 98” and 100” sets sold, making the increase in set size more of an 85” story than a 98”/100” one.
The Chinese trade press also championed the same ultra-large story with the fact that sales value increased9.3% y/y during the holiday, which many attribute to the larger number of 98” and 100” sets, but it is almost impossible to disaggregate the increase in sales value across all TV set sizes as smaller 65” – 85” sets could have seen price increases between2024 and 2025. We don’t doubt that ultra-large TV set unit volumes have been increasing in China, but there is also the concept that if Chinese buyers are able to afford such large TV sets, the Chinese consumer is ‘richer’ and more successful, something that the Chinese government has been promoting over the last few years. It is difficult to separate the fact from fiction.
Of course, the Chinese trade press has been extoling the ‘massive’ growth in large TV sets, essentially those between 85” and 100”, so we were curious as to the validity of those claims, but we also note that China’s “New for Old” rebate program, which offers rebates on all TV sets that meet certain energy guidelines with a maximum of $272 (US) per set, remains in effect, which skews sales to larger sizes. On a gross basis, the in-store size average of TV sets sold in China during this year’s May Day was 71.4”, up 2.0” from last year, while that average in online stores was 62.7”, up 2.5” y/y. While 98” and 100” sets increased by large percentages y/y the actual volumes for these large sets are still small (23,537 combined for May Day 2025), while 85” set volume was almost 5 times the number of 98” and 100” sets sold, making the increase in set size more of an 85” story than a 98”/100” one.
The Chinese trade press also championed the same ultra-large story with the fact that sales value increased9.3% y/y during the holiday, which many attribute to the larger number of 98” and 100” sets, but it is almost impossible to disaggregate the increase in sales value across all TV set sizes as smaller 65” – 85” sets could have seen price increases between2024 and 2025. We don’t doubt that ultra-large TV set unit volumes have been increasing in China, but there is also the concept that if Chinese buyers are able to afford such large TV sets, the Chinese consumer is ‘richer’ and more successful, something that the Chinese government has been promoting over the last few years. It is difficult to separate the fact from fiction.
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