A quicker processor, an AI assistant or the promise of uninterrupted 5G would possibly make the concept of a brand new smartphone tempting. However for a majority of Indian customers who changed their telephones sooner than deliberate, damaged glass was the rationale.
A survey of 1,509 smartphone customers discovered that 53% of Indians mentioned damaged glass had brought on them to purchase a brand new cellphone sooner than deliberate. And dropping a cellphone is hardly an occasional mishap. As many as 87% of respondents mentioned they’d dropped their smartphone within the earlier 12 months, whereas 56% mentioned they felt anxious about drops due to considerations over the sturdiness of the quilt glass, revealed a web-based survey commissioned by Corning, the US company behind Gorilla Glass.
The survey performed throughout India in November and December 2025 was launched in July 2026. The pattern, in response to the corporate, included 1,509 smartphone customers, with illustration throughout age teams, areas, working techniques, worth segments and person profiles, together with players, professionals, energy customers and camera-centric customers.
“Sturdiness is not a secondary specification. It is central to the general machine expertise,” Andrew Beck, Vice President and Basic Supervisor, Corning Gorilla Glass, mentioned in an announcement.
BROKEN GLASS IS SHORTENING THE LIFE OF PHONES
We have all skilled {that a} cracked display would not cease a cellphone from working. However we all know that repairing it may be expensive sufficient to make customers purchase a brand new cellphone as a substitute.
When a drop resulted in cover-glass breakage, one in 5 customers mentioned their cellphone required skilled restore or alternative. Almost half reported spending greater than Rs 2,000 on repairs, revealed the survey.
That helps clarify why damaged glass can set off an surprising smartphone buy. The impact is not restricted to folks shopping for costly flagship telephones both.
In extra findings shared completely with India Right now Digital, Corning mentioned premium smartphone customers had been extra prone to change their gadgets due to damaged glass, with 61% saying they’d achieve this. However the hole between premium and price range customers wasn’t as broad as one would possibly count on. Greater than 4 in 10 price range smartphone customers, or 42%, mentioned damaged glass would cause them to change their cellphone, in response to the extra information shared.
Damaged glass, due to this fact, is not only a drawback for costly telephones. Throughout worth segments, a shattered display can push customers to switch an in any other case usable cellphone sooner than they’d deliberate.
DURABILITY IS NOW A SMARTPHONE BUYING FACTOR
In accordance with the survey, 61% of Indian customers mentioned sturdiness claims influenced their smartphone buy selections. Drop safety was valued by 52% of respondents, scratch resistance by 48%, whereas 52% valued equal safety for the back and front of a tool.
Extra findings of the survey shared with India Right now Digital present a much bigger image. Requested which smartphone options they valued most, 63% of the respondents cited battery life and general machine sturdiness, 52% valued glass that would face up to drops, 48% prioritised scratch-resistant screens, and 44% most well-liked premium design mixed with toughness.
Sturdiness is not restricted to surviving unintentional drops. Customers additionally worth options that shield the display from on a regular basis scratches, glare and fingerprints whereas sustaining show readability, Corning informed India Right now Digital.
Show readability was a prime precedence for 58% of respondents, whereas 53% additionally valued the sturdiness of the cellphone’s digital camera lens.
INDIANS ARE WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR TOUGHER PHONES
Maybe the clearest indication of how essential sturdiness is that customers say they’re keen to pay for more durable telephones, revealed the Corning survey.
Almost three-fourths of respondents (74%) mentioned they’d pay extra for enhanced cover-material options, together with larger sturdiness and improved optical efficiency.
That willingness turns into extra comprehensible when considered alongside the price of repairing damaged telephones.
Corning informed India Right now Digital that the survey was based mostly on a “geographically various city pattern”. In different phrases, the findings should not be learn as establishing how rural smartphone customers behave or whether or not their causes for changing telephones differ from these of city customers.
Nonetheless, the numbers level in the direction of an fascinating change in how smartphones are being evaluated. Notion-wise, the smartphone improve is pitched across the subsequent huge factor — a quicker chip, extra cameras, 5G and, extra just lately, synthetic intelligence. However typically the ‘news-phone resolution’ is made in a fraction of a second, typically due to damaged glass.
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