Seven out of 10 smartphone owners in Ireland believe that losing their smartphones is a worse scenario than losing their wallets. Some 18pc of those surveyed have had their smartphones stolen while one in five have lost their devices at some point, with the majority losing their phones in pubs, clubs and restaurants.
According to the Mobilecover.ie Smartphone Trends Survey out today, of those who have had their phones stolen, nearly 40pc have had them stolen in a bar, restaurant or nightclub setting, while one in four thefts have occurred from the person themselves.
Twenty per cent of smartphones are lost while commuting.
Despite smartphone theft and loss, just one in three smartphone users use a security or tracking app to help locate a lost/stolen device. Of those users, some 54pc use Find My iPhone while some 25pc use Lookout for iPhone or Android devices.
The most-owned smartphones
The survey also revealed that Samsung is now the most-owned smartphone brand in Ireland (37.1pc), followed by Apple (25.1pc), Nokia (14.3pc), HTC (9.5pc), Sony (4.8pc), LG (1.1pc) and combined others (8.1pc).
With Christmas fast approaching, almost 20pc of respondents said they intend to upgrade their smartphones during the festive season, while some 38pc said they would wait until 2013 and another 7pc will wait until 2014.
Some 10pc of respondents said they will hold onto their existing smartphones, while around 25pc have not yet decided whether to upgrade or not.
Mobilecover.ie hosted the survey and some 474 smartphone users were surveyed during October and November 2012, using the GetResponse survey tool.
“Smartphones continue to be at the centre of our lives, for both our work and our personal needs,” Gerry McCarthy, sales director, Mobilecover.ie, said.
“With one in four phones now being stolen from the individual, people need to be extra careful where and how they use their mobile devices as we approach the festive season.”
The full infographic can be downloaded here.
