Cracked. Busted. Broken.: The Cost of Damaged iPhones [Infographic]

Many of the people awaiting their iPhone 5 may very well be those who cracked their iPhone 4 or 4s. Americans have spent nearly $6 billion on damaged iPhones according to a recent Squaretrade infographic. Stephanie Mlot of PC Mag notes that the consumer electronics protection plan provider surveyed over 2,000 iPhone users and aggregated the cost of repairs, replacements, and insurance deductibles for cracked, dropped, pummeled, kicked, or water-damaged devices to arrive at the multi-billion dollar tab. So, how commonplace is it for these phones to end up cracked, busted and broken like mine? Squaretrade found that 30% of iPhone users have experienced accidental damage in just the past 12 months, while 17% have damaged a phone more than once. iPhone users are 10 times more likely to damage their phone than lose it or have it stolen.

The most common accident scenarios were due to inattention. 30% of iPhone users damage their phones because it falls out of their hands. Others unintentionally damage their phones by immersing it in liquid, letting it fall out of their lap, knocking it off a table, water spilling on it.

Despite the rival smartphones, iPhone users are a resilient bunch. 6% tape up their phones and 11% of users continue to use phones with cracked screens. If you want to avoid the cost of professional iPhone repair (ranging from approximately $80 to $100) or replacement, you can just think that trauma has given your phone more character.

About Kathryn Buford

Kathryn Buford is a PhD student in sociology whose research explores digital communities across the African diaspora, social entrepreneurship and the arts. Kathryn's work has been featured in various online publications as well as the online magazine for Live Unchained (www.liveunchained.com), which features innovative arts, media and events across the world. Contact her at kathryn@liveunchained.com and follow her on Twitter (@yeskathryn) for musings on creativity, technology, entrepreneurship and society.
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MacBook screen repair 5 pts

We all know how much costly is it, many of people having their problem, US has already spend $6 billions, Which somehow worked and some how wasted, so we have care, rather than treating it again and again.