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These days, smartphones are major investments, but accidents happen, and our devices often end up with cracked screens, scratched edges, and busted buttons. According to stats from Allstate Protection Plans, 78 million smartphone owners in the US damaged their phones in 2023. And while that’s down from 87 million in 2020, the amount of money people spent to fix broken screens jumped to $8.3 billion last year, nearly triple the $3.4 billion they spent in 2018.In previous years, water damage was the biggest problem facing smartphone owners, but that’s not as big of an issue these days as phones can now survive a dunk in the water (or toilet). Now, the biggest concerns, according to Allstate, are as follows:Damaged screens (67%)Wi-Fi or connectivity issues (28%)Touch-screen problems (24%)Loose or damaged charging port (22%)Water damage (21%)Battery not working properly (21%)Chipped corner/sides (20%)Speaker issues (17%)Dented corner/sides (15%)Camera(s) not working properly (14%)Microphone(s) not working properly (11%)If a damaged phone is still functioning, though, 49% of poll respondents wouldn’t fix it immediately because of the cost (39%), not wanting to be without their device (21%), and concerns about throwing a functional phone into a landfill (12%).Folks who do repair their devices tend to do so immediately, with a significant number of people attempting to initiate a repair the same day the device breaks, be it through the manufacturer, taking it to a repair shop, or attempting DIY fixes.
(Credit: Allstate Protection Plans)
Environmental concerns are a concern, too; 51% say they are likely to choose brands that implement sustainability initiatives. Brands seem aware of this metric; many of today’s modern smartphones, such as the iPhone 15 and Galaxy S24, boast recycled materials. Apple in particular has doubled and even tripled down on going green.
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In general, respondents like it when brands used recycled ocean plastics, recycled glass, recycled packaging, and carbon emissions offsets. When discarding old smartphones, people seemed to practice what they preach, with only 14% of respondents outright discarding their old smartphone. The rest keep them as backups, give them to relatives, or recycle them. Allstate’s surveys were conducted in May and December 2023 and gathered 2,504 responses.
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