Be careful, not sorry: Screen damage from poor handling makes up 71% of phone repairs

New Delhi: Screen damage caused by lax handling of smartphones is the most common reason for which people have to run to repair centres, according to a report by after sales services firm OnsiteGo.

Installing a third party mobile application can also prove costly, the report said, as your phone could crash.

Around 71 per cent cases of mobile phone repairs are related to screen damage, followed by issues related to starting (8 per cent), device damage (6 per cent), water logging (3 per cent), software and charging (2 per cent each), the report said.

It also cautions against installation of third party applications as it can crash the smartphone due to non-compatibility with the operating system of the device.
According to the report, smartphones with thin bezels or curved screens, which also cost high, are most susceptible to damage.

"A cracked screen is unsavory to look at and it also poses danger to other parts of your phone. The crack allows the dust and moisture to get inside the phone easily, which damages other components inside the device.

"A cracked screen or damaged display is most common, and is reported to be almost 71 per cent of all issues in smartphones," the report based on the January-February repair trend said.

Motherboards are the most expensive part of a mobile phones, accounting for around 39 per cent of the device's price, followed by screens (23 per cent), camera (8 per cent), back cover (7 per cent), battery (6 per cent) and speaker or receiver (around 2 per cent), according to the report.

"As the most common part, the screen is repaired 77 per cent of the time. A motherboard is repaired 14 per cent of the time. Battery and camera are repaired 4 and 3 per cent of times respectively. Speaker-receiver gets repaired 1 per cent of the time, so is full-body replacement of the phone," the report said.

The average cost of repair is the highest when a phone does not get switched on. It usually means the motherboard has to be replaced.

"A bricked device (facing starting or booting issue) is reported to be 8 per cent of all issues reported in smartphones. The average repair cost for this damage is Rs 9,900," the report said.

The cost of smartphone repair varies based on the segment in which it falls, but on an average it comes to around 33 per cent of the original device price.

The average repair cost of expensive smartphones, priced above Rs 50,000, comes to about 39 per cent of the price, while it is 41 per cent for the devices priced below Rs 10,000.

"Phones priced between Rs 10,000- Rs 20,000 cost 33 per cent of the device price in average repair costs. Phones ranging between Rs 20,000-35,000 price are most reasonably priced for repair at 27 per cent. For phones above Rs 35,000 and below Rs 50,000, the repair prices are estimated to be at 32 per cent," the report said.

Repairs related to audio, camera, speaker or receiver are less than 1 per cent of all issues that smartphone users face, according to the report.