We’ve all been there. The agonizing moment as you fumble your phone and it lands squarely in the pool or a pitcher of margaritas. In fact, according to a new study conducted by Verizon Communications and KRC Research, 49% of us have been there.
The study, based on a survey of more than 1,000 people, found nearly half have broken or lost two mobile phones. Millennials apparently drop their phones an average of four times each week, which is twice as much as Gen Xers or baby boomers. Further, parents are more likely to have broken or lost a mobile device compared to phone owners without children; the operative percentages are, respectively 67% to 38%.
So how do people break or lose their phones? According to the study, 43% dropped it in water or sent it through the washing machine; others threw the phone, dropped it out of a window, found a pet chewing on the phone or tripped and landed on the phone.
There were some great specific responses that really paint a picture. Take, for instance, the phone user who reported breaking the phone when they “threw it at the wall after the New York Giants lost their sixth game in a row.”
Another respondent “went to get into a taxi, the phone dropped while getting in … we told the cab driver to go back and the phone was run over.”
Then there’s this gem: “Dropped in an open atrium… where it bounced several times until hitting three floors down an open staircase.”
Citing research from Pew, the reports says 29% of mobile phone owners say their device is “something they can’t imagine living without.”
