iPhone 4 glass breaks 82 per cent more often than 3GS

Third party warranty firm SquareTrade has released a study that shows claims relating to broken glass screens of the iPhone 4 are 82 per cent higher than the previous iPhone 3GS.

The data is based on the first four months of sale and equates to 4.8 per cent of the 20,000 phones covered by SquareTrade have reported broken screens where at the same point in the life cycle of the iPhone 3GS, just 2.8 per cent had reported damaged screens.

SquareTrade estimated that 15.5 per cent of iPhone 4 owners will have an accident with their phone within the first year. Beyond the screen itself, the study also showed that iPhone 4 owners have reported 68 per cent more accidents than iPhone 3GS owners. Most of the reported issues related to broken screens.

The company attributed broken screens to accidents, with reported ‘Normal failure’ down fractionally from the iPhone 3GS. SquareTrade said that the iPhone 4 is "significantly more prone to physical damage" than the previous model although the company said this should be taken in perspective and that the iPhone is a "very well constructed device".

The company claimed the aluminosilicate glass screeen cracked "at least as often" as the old glass, but now there was more surface area to damage. Back in November 2008 the company found iPhones to be more reliable than Blackberry and Palm Treo smartphones. SquareTrade said it wa sworking on a new report which will include reliability data on the latest Android phone models.