Understand a habit that Brazilians have regarding cell phones. See more!
The habit of owning an extra smartphone is common among Brazilians. People often stop selling or donating old devices, even if they buy new ones, and leave the old ones at home. According to the Panorama Mobile Time/Opinion Box survey, from July 2023 “Brazilians and their smartphones”, 58% of mobile phone customers in Brazil use more than one smartphone.
On average, these people have 1 old device at home. According to data from IBGE, this means that there are currently around 90 million old cell phones still working in Brazilian homes. Keep reading to better understand the reasons for this.
Two cell phones
This practice is most common among users aged 30 to 49. According to the study, 60% keep old cell phones at home. Younger people aged 16 to 29 (56%) and those over 50 (57%) have lower percentages, but not by much.
Comparing the three bands that divided the survey into A and B, C and D and E, there was no difference based on monthly household income. Overall, 58% of the respondents stated that their older phones are stored at home.
This habit is due to Brazilians' preference for new phones. The majority, which amounts to 81% of cell phone users in the country, have already purchased a cell phone and 19% received a device. Of those who purchased, 91% chose a new device and only 9% bought a used device. In the group that received a smartphone as a gift, 72% received a new device and 28% received a used device.
Security issue
The fear of using the device outside the home is the same as last year. In other words, 83% of Brazilians avoid using their cell phones in certain public places to avoid theft. However, when analyzing the fear by specific types of places, significant reductions were observed in almost all places, but especially in public transportation. The percentage of Brazilians who are afraid of using their cell phones on trains fell from 30% to 22%. For buses, it decreased from 55% to 48% and on the subway from 34% to 27%.
Despite the fear, currently only 121% of smartphone users have insurance against theft of their devices, the same average as last year. Young people are the most cautious group. Among those insured, 161% are between 16-29 years old, compared to 91% of those aged 30-49 and 111% of those aged 50 or older. Another alarming fact is that 41% of users have a cell phone tracking app.
Many robberies
The percentage of Brazilians who had their stolen cell phones is virtually unchanged from last year. In fact, the number was 31%, an increase of 1 percentage point from the previous survey. Of these, almost two-thirds, or 65% of those people, said they had only been victimized once. A large percentage (72%) had their phone stolen or robbed for the last time in 2021.
It is worth mentioning that in Brazil, robbery is more common than cell phone theft. In 59% of the cases, the robbery was visible to the victim. More than half (54%) said they filed a police report. And 81% tried to lock the device remotely, the chip or both. Only 30% attempts to track a stolen or stolen device.
How was the study carried out?
The Panorama Mobile Time/Opinion Box survey – “Brazilians and their smartphones” is an independent study carried out in collaboration with the news website Mobile Time and the research solutions company Opinion Box.
The questionnaire was prepared by Mobile Time and applied online at Opinion Box from June 7 to 26, 2023 to 2,085 Brazilians with internet access, taking into account gender, age, income range and geographic distribution of this group. The margin of error is 2.1 percentage points. The confidence level is 95%.
