It seems we Indians are getting too addicted to our smartphones. As per a global survey by B2X Care Solutions, a provider of customer care for smartphones, 57% of Indians said they can’t live without their smartphones. As if this was not enough, it was discovered that 98% Indians sleep with their smartphones and 83% keep it on their body or within reach throughout the day.
By Nandagopal Rajan
The survey on mobile device usage, consumer behavior and service expectations polled more than 2,500 smartphone and tablet users from the United States, Germany, Brazil, India and China, the top five smartphone regions globally.
Incidentally, Americans, Chinese and Indians would be less likely than Germans to hand over their smartphone, even if they were given $100 a day or $500 a week to go without it; they’d be much more willing in the case of tablets. In all countries respondents said they would give up their TV before their phone. In the US they were willing to forgo a best best friend while Brazilians suggest they don’t mind saying bye to their spouse or partner to retain their phone. Thankfully, in India and China the tradeoff ended with the car.
Third of the Indians surveyed and more than half the Chinese had used a repair or exchange service for a device, more often than not covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. Repairs in India, China and the USA were covered by an extended warranty than it was the case for other countries.
The top 3 smartphone pain points were listed as software problems, damage to the display and faulty batteries, while for tablets this was battery, software and screen freezes. While new companies in India vouch by the existence of a hotline for customer support, it was identified as the least used channel as most go to the store where they purchased the device.
While 15% of devices are not fixed correctly the first time, India has the least efficiency with this number dropping to 22%. China is most efficient with just 8% incorrect repairs.
While a high 24% Indian respondents said they need customer support at least once a month, 39% of them had no idea where to get help if they need support.
Brazilians are the global leaders when it comes to smartphone usage and 63% spend more than 3 hours per day on the phone. India is number two with 42%, well ahead of USA at 26%.
