The TV business in Spain: from the 80s to plasma, a goldmine
Plasma sets at 1,000 euros, World Cups that boosted sales, and a margin that may have been in the walkman. That was the television business in Spain.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Selling TVs was a goldmine, but the real money was in the walkman
In the 80s, having a TV at home stopped being a luxury and became the norm. Appliance retailers noticed it in their tills, but the real margin on televisions coexisted with far more profitable devices. The question of whether business owners got rich off televisions gets a nuanced answer in the memory of that era.
Some argue the business was a sure thing because every World Cup served as an excuse to sell. In the 2000s, the arrival of plasma sent prices through the roof: 1,000-euro screens that people bought without complaint, embarrassed to still be on a tube TV. There were always televisions costing over 1,200 euros, and the durability of models like the Philips K-12 worked against them: if they didn't break, it was harder to justify replacing them.
But another analysis points out that walkmans carried a higher margin. And that appliance stores were good business in the 80s, though from the 90s on competition tightened. The key wasn't the product but the adoption cycle: a luxury that becomes mainstream, like cars in the 70s, computers in the 90s or mobile phones at the end of that decade. Those who rode that wave made a killing. Those who arrived late were left patching things up with installation services.
The profitability of obsolescence
The anecdote of the Sony Trinitron as a status symbol and the VCR with shuttle as "god tier" reflects the social pressure to upgrade. At school, the kids with a Trinitron were the cool ones. That social pressure was the fuel of the business. Nobody wanted to be the last one with a tube TV, and the stores exploited it.
The cycle repeats itself
The logic repeats with every technology: electric cars today are what tube TVs were in the 70s. The next must-have might be a yacht, as one jokingly suggests. Meanwhile, the margin analysis suggests the real money was in accessories and services, not the screen.
In the 80s, having a TV at home stopped being a luxury and became the norm. Appliance retailers noticed it in their tills, but the real margin on televisions coexisted with far more profitable devices. The question of whether business owners got rich off televisions gets a nuanced answer in the memory of that era.
Some argue the business was a sure thing because every World Cup served as an excuse to sell. In the 2000s, the arrival of plasma sent prices through the roof: 1,000-euro screens that people bought without complaint, embarrassed to still be on a tube TV. There were always televisions costing over 1,200 euros, and the durability of models like the Philips K-12 worked against them: if they didn't break, it was harder to justify replacing them.
But another analysis points out that walkmans carried a higher margin. And that appliance stores were good business in the 80s, though from the 90s on competition tightened. The key wasn't the product but the adoption cycle: a luxury that becomes mainstream, like cars in the 70s, computers in the 90s or mobile phones at the end of that decade. Those who rode that wave made a killing. Those who arrived late were left patching things up with installation services.
The profitability of obsolescence
The anecdote of the Sony Trinitron as a status symbol and the VCR with shuttle as "god tier" reflects the social pressure to upgrade. At school, the kids with a Trinitron were the cool ones. That social pressure was the fuel of the business. Nobody wanted to be the last one with a tube TV, and the stores exploited it.
The cycle repeats itself
The logic repeats with every technology: electric cars today are what tube TVs were in the 70s. The next must-have might be a yacht, as one jokingly suggests. Meanwhile, the margin analysis suggests the real money was in accessories and services, not the screen.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (15 replies).
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