iPad 2 more likely to be accidentally damaged than original

Nothing could be more sad than a cracked iPad screen. Especially if it's your own fault that the screen's cracked. According to a report by SquareTrade, a warranty company, upon analysis of 50,000 iPads covered by the company, customers report damage to the iPad 2, 3.5 more times than the original iPad. Furthermore, 10.1 percent of iPad 2 owners covered by SquareTrade reported damage within the first 12 months of iPad ownership. The company itself predicts 20 percent of the iPad 2s that they cover to be damaged accidentally within 2 years of ownership, versus the 5.5 percent of the original iPad.

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The company studied damages in two categories: consumer-related accidents and normal malfunctions. The reported malfunction rates of the two iPads are low, with 0.9 percent for the original iPad in its first year and 2.2 percent in its second year. The ipad 2 has 0.3 percent malfunction rate in its first year and is projected to have a 0.7 percent malfunction rate in its second year. SquareTrade also says that among all the mobile devices that consumers reported non-accidental malfunctions, the iPad has few reports. Of non-accidental malfunctions, power issues and battery issues were most popular. Screen and software malfunctions accounted for other issues.

On to accidental damages, 9.8 percent of iPad 2 owners reported accidental damage within their first year of ownership, compared to 2.8 percent of original iPad owners in their first year. That's 3.5 times the number of iPad 2 owners to original iPad owners. The most common accident, at 54 percent is dropping, while handling. Another 15 percent fell off the table and 11 percent were in car-related accidents. 8 percent were child-related accidents (SquareTrade has not gotten too specific with this), 6 percent damaged their iPads, while the devices were in a bag or backpack and 4 percent banged it against something. The more unusual accidents, include iPads being vomited on, being thrown out of a moving car by the owner's 3-year old child and having an owner's pet cat urinate on the device.

SquareTrade attributes the higher percentage of accidents to the comparison of shape between the two iPads. The iPad 2 is more curved and slightly more exposed above the bezel. The smart cover, too, has been a cause of accident for consumers where they use the cover to grab a falling iPad, which of course, doesn't work. The smart cover is in no way intended to be a fail-safe protector.