SquareTrade Study: iPhones more reliable than BlackBerry, Treo
Independent warranty provider SquareTrade has released a report showing that iPhones are more reliable than either BlackBerry or Palm Treo devices.
The report, titled "iPhone More Reliable than BlackBerry, One Year In", analyzes failure rates for more than 15,000 new cell phones covered by SquareTrade warranties. SquareTrade found that after one year of ownership, iPhone owners were half as likely as BlackBerry owners to have a phone failure, and one-third as likely as Treo owners. After 12 months, slightly over 16% of Treo owners had experienced a failure, while just less than 12% of BlackBerry owners had their smartphone die on them. Only 5.6% of iPhone owners had a critical failure.
SquareTrade's report also shows the types of failures most common for the various devices. The iPhone's Achille's Heel appears to be the touchscreen, while other devices saw problems with keyboards, software, and call quality.
When it comes to problems not caused by handset malfunctions, the iPhone is much more prone to accidental damage. 12% of iPhone owners reported failure due to dropping accidents, which SquareTrade attributes to the small size and slippery case of the iPhone.
Apple has made no comment on the report.
