Today, the digital association Bitkom published the results of its representative survey on repairs of defective mobile devices. The results show that more than half of German consumers prefer to have their smartphone repaired in case it gets damaged.
For this study, Bitkom Research on behalf of the digital association Bitkom interviewed a total of 1,003 people in Germany aged 16 and above, including 854 users of a smartphone or cell phone, about how they deal with broken smartphones or cell phones.
These are further details:
- 52 percent of affected mobile phone users said they would have their damaged device repaired.
- 89 percent of users said they already had a broken device including damages to the display (73 percent), casing (56 percent), battery (37 percent), speaker (25 percent), microphone (24 percent) or due to water damage (13 percent) and broken chargers (10 percent).
- Consumers had their broken devices repaired either by the manufacturer (24 percent), the repair services of a retailer (19 percent) or in a specialized workshop (9 percent). Ten percent repaired their phone themselves.
- Respondents who had not yet had a damaged smartphone repaired said that the repair costs were too high (73 percent), that they were planning to buy a new device anyway (53 percent), or that the repair would be too complicated (44 percent) or take too long (31 percent).
- Regardless of their personal smartphone use, 69 percent of respondents supported a reduction in VAT on repairs.
Bernhard Rohleder, Bitkom CEO, commented: "Anyone who has a defective smartphone or other faulty IT device repaired instead of throwing it away ensures less electronic waste and conserves resources and the environment. Anyone who wants to promote device repairs must set the right incentives. A reduction in VAT on spare parts and repair services for IT hardware such as smartphones and laptops is one such incentive that has a direct and immediate impact. We need to generate less waste and e-waste in Germany and Europe - that much is certain. For electronic and digital devices such as tablets, smartphones or laptops, the longer these products are used, the more sustainable they tend to be."
Source: Bitkom
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