Best Buy bets on RGB LED TVs to spark upgrade cycle

Best Buy has made it a mission this year to move a new generation of RGB LED televisions, aiming at customers who bought TVs during a record year in 2020. The company introduced the TVs to its stores in June and is positioning them as the next big leap in home entertainment.

A record 47.3 million TVs were shipped to U.S. retailers in 2020, according to the Consumer Technology Association. Best Buy estimates that the average TV upgrade cycle is five to seven years, and executives believe many of those pandemic-era buyers may now be ready to make a change.

The retailer says it is the only national chain carrying the new RGB LED models from Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL and Hisense, excluding manufacturers’ direct websites and regional retailers. The TVs combine thousands of precision dimming zones with dedicated red, green and blue LEDs to produce nearly 76% of the colors the human eye can see, according to the company.

Best Buy also claims the screens are the brightest on the market, offer strong picture quality from wide viewing angles, and deliver sharper, more detailed images through AI-processed upscaling. Blake Hampton, Best Buy’s senior vice president and chief merchandising officer, described the technology as “the first major upgrade to television screens since OLED, which launched almost 13 years ago.”