Author Topic: Americans spent over $3 billion last year fixing their smartphone screens  (Read 1697 times)

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Offline endicom

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Market Watch
Jacob Passy
Nov. 20, 2018

That cracked smartphone screen? It will likely cost you more than you’d think.

Two in three smartphone owners reported damage to their phones in the past year, according to a study released Tuesday by Allstate subsidiary SquareTrade ALL, -0.41% Cracked screens were the most common form of damage, accounting for 29% of damaged smartphones, followed by scratched screens (27%) and nonworking batteries (22%).

Dropping a phone on the ground was the culprit in 74% of these cases. But those simple accidents are costing Americans big time. American smartphone owners broke more than 50 million screens last year — nearly two every second — and spent $3.4 billion to replace them. SquareTrade surveyed more than 3,000 people over the course of 2018 and extrapolated their results to account for the number of smartphone owners in the U.S.

More... https://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-spent-over-3-billion-last-year-fixing-their-smartphone-screens-2018-11-20

Offline Skeptic

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Re: Americans spent over $3 billion last year fixing their smartphone screens
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2018, 02:37:42 am »
I purchased a leather case for my phone, reducing the chance of screen scratching and fracture 75%. There would need to be real intentional effort to damage my phone. Leather case $60.00, replacement screen $110.00. I think my investment was worth it.
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Online roamer_1

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Re: Americans spent over $3 billion last year fixing their smartphone screens
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2018, 08:03:53 am »
I purchased a leather case for my phone, reducing the chance of screen scratching and fracture 75%. There would need to be real intentional effort to damage my phone. Leather case $60.00, replacement screen $110.00. I think my investment was worth it.

I can't remember charging more than 70 bucks for a screen replacement...  :shrug: And that one was spendy...

Online roamer_1

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Re: Americans spent over $3 billion last year fixing their smartphone screens
« Reply #3 on: December 04, 2018, 08:07:16 am »
But you are exactly right about buying a cover for em.
I just got a Galaxy J7 SkyPro... Before I even let it out of the house it was in a case, and the case only cost 10 bucks. Way, way better protected in soft rubber.

And btw, the second most common repair... the charging receptacle.

Offline Skeptic

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Re: Americans spent over $3 billion last year fixing their smartphone screens
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2018, 10:01:39 pm »
I can't remember charging more than 70 bucks for a screen replacement...  :shrug: And that one was spendy...

I got a smartphone screen replaced at a shopping mall in 2016. The screen was $90.00 and service charge was $10.00 plus taxes.
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Online roamer_1

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Re: Americans spent over $3 billion last year fixing their smartphone screens
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2018, 10:29:58 pm »
I got a smartphone screen replaced at a shopping mall in 2016. The screen was $90.00 and service charge was $10.00 plus taxes.

Most glass is under 20 bucks, many under 10... Heck, I have even had it made locally out of tempered glass, and it worked fine... Yours must have been a fairly unpopular model, or you got screwed...

Though maybe I should back off on that a bit... your region is quite likely more expensive than out here, what with local and state taxes baked in.  :shrug:

But you can check prices on the stuff yourself - you probably can't get the parts for my cost, but I reckon you can get close.

The last one I did was a galaxy s6, and I paid 4 bucks for the glass. I refit the charging port for another 6 bucks, and transferred data from a 32g to a 64g SD card (which he supplied)... All the parts are in stock, btw, as anything galaxy including s4 and up I order in bulk and have laying around. I would have to go dig up the invoice for real numbers, but in round numbers, that was a half-hour job, and he paid around fifty bucks. Had it back to him late in the same day.

Offline libertybele

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Re: Americans spent over $3 billion last year fixing their smartphone screens
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2018, 06:56:38 am »
I've replaced my screen twice - $20.00 for glass each time.  I bought a different case for $10.00.

Heck anymore than that, and it'll be time for a new phone anyways.  :shrug:
Romans 12:16-21

Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly, do not claim to be wiser than you are.  Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.  If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all…do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Online roamer_1

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Re: Americans spent over $3 billion last year fixing their smartphone screens
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2018, 08:21:02 am »
I've replaced my screen twice - $20.00 for glass each time.  I bought a different case for $10.00.

Heck anymore than that, and it'll be time for a new phone anyways.  :shrug:

That sounds a whole lot better to me... closer to right, I mean...

Offline Skeptic

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Re: Americans spent over $3 billion last year fixing their smartphone screens
« Reply #8 on: December 06, 2018, 11:32:44 am »
I was kind of naive when it came to fixing my phone. I didn't shop around and went to my first point of reference. I wasn't that happy about it because my phone was $160.00 and it was ridiculous that a screen replacement was the same price.

Funny thing about that price difference. My spare phones are cingular2 iOS flip phones which are $50.00. A battery replacement is $45.00. Might as well purchase a whole new phone.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2018, 11:33:22 am by Skeptic »
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Offline jmyrlefuller

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Re: Americans spent over $3 billion last year fixing their smartphone screens
« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2018, 01:18:46 pm »
I've replaced my screen twice - $20.00 for glass each time.  I bought a different case for $10.00.

Heck anymore than that, and it'll be time for a new phone anyways.  :shrug:
Indeed—a year and a half ago my Chinese smartphone shattered when I dropped it on a stone patio. It would've cost me more to fix it than replace it.

I ended up getting a Galaxy J3, refurbed for under $30... and it does just about everything I want it to do. The old one, I slapped on a glass screen "protector" from Dollar Tree and it sits in my house as a potential backup phone if something happens to my Galaxy.
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