SquareTrade Report: iPhones are More Reliable Than BlackBerries & Palm Treos

July 2009

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We have been reporting about iPhone Apps crashing issue, Safari crashes and various other issues users have been facing with their iPhone which could be interpreted as iPhone has lots of problems.

Since this is an iPhone blog; we only write about the iPhone but it does not expose readers to issues that a BlackBerry or a Palm Treo user might be facing.

Independent warranty provider SquareTrade has just released a report which gives us a better perspective; it shows that iPhones are more reliable than BlackBerry and Palm Treo smartphones.

Here are some of the highlights straight from the SquareTrade's report titled "iPhone More Reliable than BlackBerry, One Year In":

SquareTrade analyzed cell phone failure rates for more than 15,000 new phones covered by SquareTrade Care Plans and found iPhone handsets had substantially fewer failures than BlackBerry and Treo handsets within the first year of ownership.

In the first year of ownership, the iPhone had a 5.6% malfunction rate, half the rate of the Blackberry at 11.9% and one-third the rate of the Treo at 16.2%.

Touch-screen issues were the most frequently reported iPhone problem, accounting for nearly one-third of all reported malfunctions.

For most cell phone users, their greatest vulnerability to replacement costs occurs during the second year of ownership.

However, without more data, it’s impossible to know if iPhone owners are at a bigger or lower risk for handset malfunction than BlackBerry and Treo owners after the manufacturer’s warranty has elapsed. Regardless, both models forecast iPhones with a significantly lower failure rate at the end of 24 months of ownership.

From this analysis, SquareTrade have inferred that iPhones are more reliable handsets than the other two smart phone models.

The report also gives a perspective on some of widely reported problems/complaints about iPhone such as its battery, issues with iPhone 3G call quality and software issues.

There have been a lot of discussions about iPhone battery and the cost to replace it. SquareTrade concludes that at the one year mark, such fears appear to be largely unfounded, with fewer than half of a percent of users reporting a battery problem. This compares to roughly 1% of BlackBerry and Treo handsets reporting battery issues during the same time period.

Online forums have also been flooded by complaints made about the call quality of 3G iPhones. While we lack sufficient data to assess the difference in call quality issues between the iPhone 3G and the 2.5G, the 2.5G model seems to be relatively trouble free. This is especially true given that call quality is a major issue for both BlackBerry and Treo both handset lines have over 2% reporting a call quality issue within the first year.

When it comes to Software related issues, only 1% of iPhone users have reported software relates issues, compares to approximately half of BlackBerry at 1.8% and 33% of Treo users reporting software related issues during the same time period.

However, as per the report iPhone users need to be careful while handling their iPhone as per SquareTrade "an astounding 12% of iPhone owners have reported a failure due to accidental damage at the 1 year mark, and nearly a quarter of all iPhone owners can be expected to have their phone fail from an accident by the end of 2 years. This accident rate is higher than the 9% accident rate reported on all other phones by one-third."

SquareTrade attributes this to the size (especially for those with small hands) and slippery case of the iPhone.