Repairing those low-end Androids may cost carriers up to $2 billion
WDS, a company which provides device management and call center services to carriers, has done a study of 600 000 tech support calls from its centers in Europe, North America, Africa and Australia, and found out that those cheap Android phones don't come as cheap in the end.
Android has been taking over the smartphone world for a while now, and a lot of its current 57% market share success is due to affordable handsets that cost as little as $100 or less to produce, and which many carriers are offering at the low-end of their smartphone portfolios.
These comprise both of handsets that aren't from a well-established brand, as well as phones from Samsung, LG or other household names. Tim Deluca-Smith, the VP of marketing at WDS, says: "While this price point sounds very attractive, when you look at a total cost of ownership its a different story... At the moment, Android is a bit of the Wild West."
He clarifies that packing, transporting and repairing such handsets, which have much higher warranty failure rates than high-end Androids, iPhones or BlackBerries, costs carriers 80 pound sterling ($128) on average. With the proliferation of such entry level Android phones, carriers might be on the hook for up to $2 billion globally in repair costs.
source: Reuters
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