In a recent study titled The State of Our Smartphones involving 500 smartphone owners – conducted by device protector, OtterBox – one third of Malaysians are likely to have damaged their smartphone within three months of owning it.

The research reveals that 75% of Malaysian smartphone users have damaged their smartphones over 2.8 times in the past five years with the extent of damages ranging from minor scratches and scuffs to more serious devastations such as screen cracks and water damage.

20% of Malaysian respondents also admitted to not having any form of protection for their phones – like encasing them in protective cases or applying screen protectors – when the damages occurred.

68% of Malaysians are not bothered by cracked smartphone screens as long as the damage doesn’t affect the phone’s performance.

21% of Malaysians smartphone owners admit that their phones are ‘badly damaged’.

24% of said high repair costs, at an average estimate price of RM500, are keeping them from fixing their phones.

Of the quarter of Malaysian smartphone users who did not damage their smartphones for the past five years, more than half of them (58%) are women.

Despite recording a high percentage of users with damaged phones among countries in the Asia-Pacific region, a sizeable number of Malaysians actually intend to protect their phones.

56% of the survey’s Malaysian respondents claimed they would buy a protective case for their new smartphones and most respondents are willing to spend between US$10 (RM42) and US$60 (RM250) on a case which would make their phones resilient to drops and smashes.

Malaysia smartphone danger zones

As a nation of smartphone enthusiasts, it has become habitual for Malaysian users to constantly check their smartphones – be it at work, at home or while walking along the street.

Malaysians have damaged their phones at some point during these routine activities and 64% of the time was a simple slip from the users’ hands.

44% of users in Malaysia admitted to damaging their smartphones at work and another 29% said the unfortunate incidents occurred during a stroll down the street.

While 26% of smartphone owners broke their devices while commuting or taking public transport, damages have also occurred with 25% of the incidents happening while travelling or on a holiday.

The State of Our Smartphones survey was commissioned by OtterBox and was conducted independently by ABN Impact in August 2015 and is based on 500 Malaysian smartphone owners.