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.