People have certainly grown more attached to their smartphones over the past few years — smartphone penetration has topped 50% in the United States and 10% globally — but things may be getting out of hand. According to a recent survey conducted by gadget trade-in service Gazelle, nearly 15% of respondents said they would rather give up sex than go for even one weekend without their iPhone. And it gets worse: 4% of those surveyed admitted to having used their iPhones while having sex. “It’s amazing to think about how much the iPhone has changed consumers’ lives in just five short years,” Gazelle’s chief gadget officer Anthony Scarsella said. “As the nation’s leading high-end consumer electronics trade-in site, we know just how much people love their iPhones, and we’re happy to help them upgrade to the latest generation in the smartest way possible – by giving them cash for their current device.” Gazelle’s full press release follows below.
Consumers Crave iPhone® More Than Facebook, Sex, According to Gazelle
As iPhone turns 5, Gazelle survey shows dramatic impact device has had on lives of consumers
Visit Facebook page to wish happy birthday to iPhone- and enter to win $2,500 Apple® shopping spree
BOSTON, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — How much do consumers love their iPhones? Quite a bit, according to a survey released today by Gazelle (www.gazelle.com), the nation’s leading high-end consumer electronics trade-in site. The results of the survey, released in honor of iPhone’s fifth birthday on June 29, show just how great an impact the device has had on many aspects of consumers’ lives, from their gadget purchasing behavior to social etiquette to sex.
More than 1,000 Gazelle customers who have traded in at least one iPhone participated in the survey. Highlights include:
- Forget the IPO buzz: iPhone, not Facebook, is what consumers truly can’t do without. When asked which device or platform they would not be able to live without, a majority (65%) chose iPhone, while only a few (1%) report not being able to do without Facebook. Nearly 15% of respondents said they’d rather give up sex than go for even a weekend without their iPhone. Now that’s love.
- Tim Cook, are you listening? Consumers want an iPhone with a larger screen. Nearly 40% of respondents report a bigger screen is the feature they would most like to see added to the next version of the iPhone. Apple has remained non-committal about whether the next version will feature a larger screen, but if the decision was left in the hands of consumers, we’d all need a little extra room in our pockets and purses.
- Thanks to iPhone, consumers have been able to reduce the number of devices they own. Nearly 70% of survey respondents report waving goodbye to their iPod or mp3 player since purchasing an iPhone. Fifty-five percent have ditched their camera, and over 40% have gotten rid of their GPS unit since buying an iPhone.
- iPhone is ruining our manners and we love it anyway. More than 25% of survey respondents report that they “almost always” use their iPhone while in a social setting such as during a meal or while at a party. iPhone hasn’t just changed how we communicate and access information – it’s also completely changed live social interaction. A combined 58% of respondents say they use their iPhone in a social setting either “usually” or “occasionally,” while only 17% of respondents report using their iPhone in such a situation either “rarely” or “never.”
- Think twice before you reach for a friend’s iPhone – you don’t know where it’s been. Nearly 85% of respondents report having used their iPhone while in the bathroom. Perhaps more disturbingly, nearly 4% of respondents report having used their iPhone while having sex.
“It’s amazing to think about how much the iPhone has changed consumers’ lives in just five short years,” said Anthony Scarsella, Gazelle’s chief gadget officer. “As the nation’s leading high-end consumer electronics trade-in site, we know just how much people love their iPhones, and we’re happy to help them upgrade to the latest generation in the smartest way possible – by giving them cash for their current device.”
To celebrate iPhone’s birthday and the countless ways iPhone has changed our lives over the last five years, Gazelle invites people to visit its Facebook page and submit a “happy birthday wish” to iPhone. By “liking” Gazelle and submitting a “happy birthday wish” through the page, consumers will be entered to win a chance to receive a $2,500 shopping spree to the Apple Store. Consumers will be able to enter their wish through June 30. Other terms and conditions apply.
