Edgar Hernandez purchases a Television during 'Black Friday' at a Best Buy store on November 25, 2011 San Diego, California. Thousands of consumers are queuing at various stores across the nation to take advantage of 'Black Friday' deals as the holiday shopping season begins in America. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)
(USA TODAY) -- Consumers looking for deals on new big-screen HDTVs before the Super Bowl -- traditionally a good time to score savings -- will need to step up their game this post-season.
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Retailers probably won't have as many sets on hand compared with past years, and super savings will be harder to find. Shoppers "will see a lot of advertising," says Paul Gagnon of DisplaySearch. "But I don't know that the deals (will) be especially stellar."
Why? Holiday TV sales were strong, unlike a year ago when stores were stuck with an abundance of unsold sets and slashed prices in January to make room for arriving 2011 models.
Consumers have been trained to either snap up TVs during Black Friday sales or wait for January as the NFL season winds down, says P.J. McNealy of Digital World Research. "A lot of consumers took advantage of those spectacular Black Friday prices and bought sets that they might have waited a little longer on," Gagnon says.
So retailers are opting for a more conservative sales strategy this time around, discounting fewer older models and banking on selling coming 2012 models -- most with improved smart-TV apps and fine-tuned picture quality -- at full price, Gagnon says.
Still, TV manufacturers and retailers don't want to disappoint willing buyers eager to purchase sets ahead of kickoff. "It actually drives a lot of large-size TV sales traditionally, because everyone is thinking of inviting everyone over," says Vizio's John Schindler.
Last year, nearly half of TVs saw price drops of 10% or more in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, according to Decide's Data Vault. This year, the best deals may be on the bigger screens, says Michael Paulson of the gadget-price-watching website. "If you are going to be hosting a Super Bowl party, it's really a good time to buy."
Among the deals:
- The biggest LCD TV available, Sharp's 80-inch LED TV, carries a suggested retail price of $5,499, but Thursday it was listed on Amazon for $4,124.33. Through Saturday, Best Buy has $700 price cuts on Sharp 60-inch ($999) and 70-inch displays ($1,999); the retailer has the 80-inch display priced at $4,999.98.
- Starting Sunday, Amazon will offer a $600 price cut on Panasonic's 60-inch plasma HDTV ($999.99). Select Sony Bravia and LG HDTVs will have $500 instant rebates.
- Mitsubishi's 92-inch Home Cinema rear-projection 3-D DLP TV is $3,999.99 with a $2,000 Super Bowl promotion.
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