OneAssist study flags large protection gap as Indians keep smartphones longer
A OneAssist-Hansa Research survey found 82% of Indian smartphone users have dropped a phone, but only 6-8% are currently covered by a protection plan. The gap is especially relevant for India’s growing pre-owned smartphone market and longer ownership cycles.
What happened
OneAssist and Hansa Research found low active device-protection adoption among India’s 650 million-plus smartphone users despite frequent accidental damage. The
Key facts
- 82% of Indian smartphone users have dropped their phone at least once
- 36% of damage incidents stem from phones slipping from pockets or bags
- 35% panicked after dropping a phone
- 36% have used a protection plan, while only 6-8% are currently covered
- 94% of women versus 80% of men had accidentally dropped a phone
- 79% of women versus 71% of men had suffered phone damage
- 70% say protection matters more for used phones
- 54% of non-metro consumers versus 30% of metro consumers have bought pre-owned smartphones
- India has more than 650 million smartphone users
- Ownership cycles exceed three years
Why this matters
Prioritize partnerships or acquisitions involving device-protection insurers, repair-service networks, and refurbished-phone marketplaces to bundle coverage at the point of sale.
What to watch
- Protection-plan attachment rates on new versus refurbished smartphone sales.
- Growth in organized refurbished smartphone sales and average age of traded-in devices.
- Screen, battery and water-damage repair volumes, average repair ticket size and repair turnaround times.
- Claim approval rates, customer complaints, cancellation rates and net promoter scores for device-protection products.
- OEM, marketplace, telco and fintech partnerships offering embedded protection or financing-linked coverage.
- Any regulatory scrutiny of device insurance disclosures, exclusions, commissions or claim settlement practices.
- Premium smartphone pricing trends, which raise the economic case for repair and protection.
- Launch transparent, low-premium plans with fixed deductibles, clear exclusions and repair turnaround guarantees rather than complex insurance-style language.
- Offer protection at multiple moments: new-device checkout, refurbished-device certification, repair-store visits, battery replacement and trade-in transactions.
- Create refurbished-device bundles combining device certification, a limited warranty and accidental-damage coverage; price the bundle below the expected cost of one major repair.
- Use damage and repair data to segment offers by handset age, resale value, brand, geography and prior repair behavior.
- Build cashless repair networks and real-time claim tracking, since claim experience will determine retention and word-of-mouth more than initial plan pricing.
- Test retailer incentives that reward protection activation and successful claims resolution, not only point-of-sale attachment.