What do American consumers do when their phone screens crack?

People drop their phones – a lot. According to industry-leading cell phone glass manufacturer Corning, consumers drop their phones seven times a year on average. That’s ample opportunity for screen damage.

Consumers are aware of this tendency to drop phones, which is why seven in ten American consumers use phone cases or covers (68%). But these aren’t a foolproof guarantee against cracked screens. So, what do consumers do once their screens do crack?

A third of Americans would simply continue using devices with cracked screens that were otherwise usable (34%). A similar share say they would immediately seek professional services to fix the screen (30%). Another 13% say they would seek warranty or insurance options to get the screen fixed up (13%). Just under a tenth of consumers say they would immediately look to replace the device with a broken screen with a new phone (8%).

Filtering data by age shows that younger consumers – specifically, those aged 18-34 – are likelier to simply continue using the device with the cracked screen (38% vs 34% of all Americans). Those aged over 55 are the most likely to immediately look to purchase a new device (11% vs 8%).

Men are markedly likelier than women to seek professional repair services to get the screen fixed (34% vs 27%), whereas women are more inclined towards exploring insurance or warranty options (16% vs 10%).

Overall, the shares of consumers that say they would explore warranty or insurance options is fairly low across all demographics. This could be because of the awareness that most cell phone manufacturers don’t cover cracked screens under their warranty schemes coupled with low rates of adoption of phone insurance. For insurance companies, this could be an opportunity for growth in a relatively untapped vertical.

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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online on 27-28 November, 2023 with a nationally representative sample of 1,990 adults (aged 16+ years) in GB, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, education level, region, and social grade and to be representative of all adults in GB (16 years or older), and reflect the latest ONS population estimates. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.

Image Credit: Ali Abdul Rahman on Unsplash