According to a resources website provided by mobile security software firm LookOut, we lose our smartphones about once a year. However, if you live in Philadelphia, you are likely to lose your phone twice a year, while Chicagoans lose their phone only every three years, on average. The total cost of stolen or misplaced phones in the U.S. could be about $30 billion this year, LookOut estimates.
Other data suggests that we are most likely to lose a phone in coffee shops, offices, bars and restaurants. Two thirds of lost phones disappear between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. and more phones get lost during festivals and celebrations than on other days. On Christmas alone, $11 million dollars in smartphone value was lost.
Overall, it appears that smartphone owners in Atlanta have the highest value in misplaced phones that were located through a software tool offered by LookOut. At the time of this writing, Atlanta was in the lead with $50.6 milllion, ahead of Fort Worth with $48.5 million and Philadelphia with $48 million. Of course all these numbers are theoretical values and not all "losses" may actually be losses as users are simply using a tool to find their phones that may only be a few feet away.
Other findings from LookOut:
- • In the U.S. people lose a smartphone about once a year.
- • People in Manchester, England have the highest likelihood of losing their phone out of any other population in the world.
- • Phones are more often lost at night. Two-thirds of phone loss happens between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time. And one of the top places to lose your phone at is a bar or pub – we’ll let you draw your own conclusion as to why!
- • Coffee shops, offices, bars and restaurants top the list as the most common venues to lose your phone in the U.S.
- • Unsurprisingly, more phones are lost during festivals and celebrations. During Christmas, more than $11 million dollars worth of phones were lost.
- • During the week of Carnival (aka Mardi Gras), more phones were lost around the world than during your average parade-less, bead-less week. Party-goers in Cologne lost 30% more phones and in Paris, 72% more phones were lost.
- • The top U.S. cities for phone loss include (Interestingly, many of the cities with highest rates of lost phones also were in the top ranks for the FBI’s most recent crime stats):
- Philadelphia
- Seattle
- Oakland
- Long Beach
- Newark
- Detroit
- Cleveland
- Baltimore
- New York
- Boston
- Philadelphia
- Seattle
- Oakland
- Long Beach
- Newark
- Detroit
- Cleveland
- Baltimore
- New York
- Boston
