A fascinating study which reveals much about smartphone users shows that approximately one-in-four smartphone users don’t use a case to protect their phones. The study, which was conducted by the NPD Group, has also broken down the reasons participants gave for not using a protective case. In addition, it shows whether the owner was an Android or iPhone user. In the study, a sample of 3,200 consumers aged 13 and above were surveyed online, providing an excellent insight into today’s smartphone owners.
Smartphone case usage among smartphone owners
A fascinating aspect of the study was how it explained smartphone case usage per brand. The results showed that:
- 75% of all smartphone owners use a protective case
- 87% of iPhone owners use a protective case
- 66% of Android owners use a protective case
- 58% of other smartphone owners use a protective case
These statistics make it clear that iPhone users are much more cognizant about protecting their phone than other smartphone users. Almost 9 out of 10 iPhone owners protect their phone with a case as opposed to only two out of three Android owners. This can easily be explained by the vast number and wide range of iPhone cases currently available to consumers.
The study also revealed that 27% of iPhone owners classified themselves as a ‘quality protector’ compared to only 13% of Android users. This statistic says a lot about the type of person who purchases an iPhone as opposed to an Android phone.
Reasons for not using a smartphone case
The study also questioned smartphone users who don’t use a protective case as to the reasons they choose not to do so. These results also showed a large disparity between iPhone and Android users:
- 33% of iPhone users said a protective case added too much bulk to their phone, while only 23% of Android users said the same
- 24% of iPhone users said they preferred the look and/or design of their phone without a case as opposed to only 14% of Android users
- 22% of iPhone users said they were not worried about dropping or damaging their phones, whereas a whopping 32% of Android users claimed they weren’t worried
- 19% of iPhone users said that cases were too expensive, while 15% of Android users said the same
These statistics display very interesting information about why a particular consumer would choose not to purchase a protective case. It seems the biggest worry (among iPhone users) is the added bulk to their smartphone. Perhaps this is paving the way for more lightweight and slim-line iPhone cases in the future. Among Android users, it seems they aren’t as concerned about dropping or damaging their smartphones. This could be due to the fact that few Android users classify themselves as ‘quality protectors’.
Yet, what will you do if you damage your phone, or if debris gets into your ports? For most people, their smartphones are their lifeline. So whether you use a case or not, a simple protective accessory such as a dust plug can help protect your expensive device from contaminants that could cause a premature death.
The insights gained from this study is invaluable to how companies can move forward when creating protective cases for smartphones. It seems that protective cases must be designed to suit the general personality of a brand user as well as protect the smartphone.