Of course your iPhone screen is broken

By Luke Nozicka

Check out the above Prezi before or after reading the article for more broken iPhone statistics.

According to recent statistics, odds are if you own an iPhone, you’ve broken the screen at one point.

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A 2013 poll from MobileInsurance.co.uk said 23 percent of iPhone users have cracked or broken their mobile device screens.

Broken screens are common among young adults, and according to a Square Trade poll in September 2012, half of iPhone owners under the age of 35 have had accidental wreckage with their screens.

The Square Trade poll said 30 percent of all iPhone owners have had an accident within the first year of owning their gadgets. Square Trade also said it is ten times more likely to accidentally damage an iPhone than have one lost or stolen.

After months of clumsily tossing around and fidgeting with my own iPhone 4, the screen finally kicked the bucket after becoming acquainted with the sidewalk outside Lawson Hall.

The Square Trade poll said 31 percent of people with broken screens chose not to bother getting the screen fixed, as did I. Despite this, fixing broken iPhones has become a booming business in the last couple years.

According to the poll, Americans have spent almost $6 billion on damaged iPhones, which is twice the amount Americans spend on toilet paper each year.

Pryor Jordan, 32, owner and technician of Saluki Screen Repair said iPhone screens break all the time especially among young adults.

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“The statistics kind of help me with (business),” he said. “For people that are under the age of 25, 48 percent of them would have broken the screen of their smart phone within twelve months of ownership.”

Jordan said Apple has begun to use a type of glass called Gorilla Glass, which is suppose to be stronger than glass used in previous Apple products.

“It was supposed to be better for people who dropped their phone,” he said. “But the statistics haven’t really supported that.”

Jordan said he believes Apple probably wants phone screens to bust, as customers are more likely to upgrade their phones or purchase a new one if the screen is cracked.

Square Trade said 11 percent of broken iPhone screen users go on using their devices as if it never broke, as did I.  And then decided to self-repair it with tape, just like 6 percent of users with broken screens according to Square Trade.

After deciding I had had enough splinters from chips of iPhone glass in my fingers and not getting a call back from the Student Health Center about my six dollar X-Rays, I chose to finally give my screen the gift of being repaired.

Jacob Quernheim, a junior from Waterloo studying mortuary science, runs a screen-fixing business on campus and fixed my iPhone 4.

Quernheim said most people have small, plastic screen cases on that may look cool, but in reality will not keep you phone safe. He also said fixing an iPhone screen can be easier than most people think, as long as you are willing to learn how to fix one.

“If you have patience and you’re confident, you know, you can probably do it,” Quernheim said.

Both Jordan and Quernheim fix devices within an hour and offer free pick up and delivery services.

If you have a damaged iPhone screen you can contact Saluki Screen Repair at 618-319-3667 or Quernheim at 618-317-4353 to discuss prices.

Luke Nozicka can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @LukeNozicka or at 536-3311 ext. 268

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