iMend.com: mobile phones for business use soon need repairs

It adds that some businesses have to contend with particularly clumsy employees – the worst offenders can break their phones three times in 12 months.

It found that the five industries that spend the most on mobile phone repairs are (in descending order): the legal sector, insurance, food & drink retail and distribution, mobile resellers and construction.

iMend.com also notes that an iPhone 6S’s screen can be replaced eight times and still cost less than buying a new handset outright, while a Samsung S7’s screen can be replaced 3.5 times for the same cost as a new device.

Sarah McConomy, general manager at iMend.com, said: “The office environment is a dangerous place for a mobile phone, and especially with liquid damage, employee efforts to fix the phone can damage the phone more. Putting a waterlogged phone in rice can cause a rice grain to get lodged in the power socket or headphone jack, and it doesn’t help the phone dry out. If a phone has had a milky tea or coffee spilt over it, drying it out will leave milk residue inside which can still go off.