iPhone 4 Least Likely to Fail, Most Likely to Fall

Apple's iPhone 4 is both the least likely smartphone to malfunction during its first year, while at the same time being more prone than other models to accidental damage, according to a study by third-party warranty provider SquareTrade. The company used data from a reported 50,000 cellphone sample, relying on customer claims to establish the likelihood of failure: products that were serviced through other channels are therefore not represented in the results. Moreover, the report divides the phones into six groups that may not be appropriate for comparison; the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS are put up against a basket of Android handsets from both HTC and Motorola as well as all of RIM's BlackBerry offerings and a catch all category which includes selections from Samsung, LG, Palm, Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, and other lower-tier manufacturers.

Another caveat to bear in mind is that the numbers for iPhone 4, Motorola, and HTC have been extrapolated from less than a full year of data in order to provide an equal period of observation. For the iPhone 4, this meant using a standard industry failure curve to tease out 12 months of data from only four months of hard numbers. 

Still, there are some interesting observations to be made here, such as the fact that there seems to be a direct correlation between the amount of glass used on a device and its propensity for breaking. Brands that proved reliable against first-year malfunction (Apple, RIM, HTC) also seemed to show high levels of breakage, suggesting that the use of quality materials can sometimes be a double-edged sword if they also happen to be fragile. Also notable is RIM's improvement since SquareTrade did a similar study back in Novemeber 2008: although BlackBerries showed a relatively high 6.8% malfunction rate in the 2010 report, that number dropped significantly from the 11.9% of two years ago. Additionally, Apple products are said to have dropped from a 5.6% rate back in 2008 to less than 2.5% in this most recent period.

Overall, the smartphone industry comes out looking pretty good here, as less than 4% of total handsets reportedly malfunction within the first year -- second only to the 3.4% non-accidental breakage rate of digital cameras. Feature phones, on the other hand, are supposedly even more prone to break than either laptops or netbooks, with 6.9% said to malfunction within the first year of ownership. Have you found your smartphones to be more or less reliable than your old dumbphones? How about your experiences with different brands? We want to know if this study actually reflects what's happening with the heaviest users, our readers. 

via PocketNow