iPhone Repairs Since 2007 Top $5.9 Billion, Survey Claims

It isn't exactly a secret that the iPhone is a little on the delicate side, and with so many people across the country using an iPhone, a number of those users are bound to have some accidents from time to time. Of course, Apple will help us get our iPhones repaired when the grim reaper takes them, which begs the question: just how much do we spend on iPhone repairs? A new study from SquareTrade gives us the answer to that question, and it's safe to say the amount we've spent on iPhone repairs is staggering.

Since the release of the first iPhone back in 2007, Americans have spent $5.9 billion dollars on iPhone repairs. SquareTrade's infographic breaks that number down for us nicely, saying that figure is $100 million more than Mitt Romney and Barack Obama will spend on their presidential campaigns combined. That $5.9 billion figure is 29 times more than we spend on contraceptives each year, and it's twice the amount Americans spend on toilet paper each year as well.

iPhone users reporting accidental damage is 10 times more common than users reporting lost or stolen phones, and SquareTrade's study says that 30% of users have their damaged their iPhone in the past twelve months. When it comes to how these phones actually get damaged, by far the most common method is dropping the iPhone while holding it (30%), followed by immersing it in liquid – which we're going to assume means dropping it in the toilet – at 18%. 13% of users report that their iPhone was damaged when it fell out of their lap, with knocking the iPhone off a table (11%) and spilling liquid on it (9%) rounding out the list.

Of course, not all of these users will pay the fee to get their iPhone repaired, and 12% of respondents said that they just put up with a cracked screen. As if dealing with a cracked screen wasn't already bad enough, 6% said that they've gone as far as taping their iPhone back together. SquareTrade's study surveyed 2,000 US iPhone users, and then the company – which offers warranties on devices like the iPhone, by the way – extrapolated that data using information on the iPhone market size from comScore. Click the thumbnail below to see SquareTrade's full infographic, and tell us – what do you think of this data?