BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - People in Germany are using their smartphones for longer and longer periods of time. In a survey published in Berlin on Thursday by the digital association Bitkom, only 43 percent of respondents said that they own a device that is less than a year old. A year ago, this figure was 55%, and in 2022 it was as high as 60%. Around a quarter (27%) have been using their smartphone for two years or longer. This represents an increase compared to previous years, when it was 23% (2023) and 16% (2022). According to the Bitkom survey, the average age of a self-purchased smartphone is currently 17.5 months.

For the study, Bitkom Research interviewed 1007 people in Germany aged 16 and over by telephone in the first three weeks of January. The survey is representative.

Bitkom Executive Board member Markus Haas identified two main reasons for the trend towards longer smartphone use. "The devices are now very robust and are supplied with updates for longer. As a result, they are also in use for longer." This has a positive effect on the carbon footprint of the devices. More and more used smartphones are now coming back onto the market as refurbished products with a warranty, said the CEO of Telefónica Deutschland.

However, the longer period of use also has something to do with a special boom during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, smartphone manufacturers were able to sell a particularly large number of devices because many consumers had purchased new hardware for working from home and their personal communication needs. Accordingly, in a comparable Bitkom survey in 2021, only eight percent of respondents said that they had been using a smartphone for two years or longer. In 2022, this figure doubled to 16%, rising to 23% in 2023 and most recently to 27%.

For the current year, Bitkom expects smartphone sales to increase from 20.1 million devices to 21.8 million. This corresponds to an increase of just under 8.5%. As the average price per device will fall from 567 euros to 523 euros, the association expects sales to remain stable at 11.4 billion euros, as in the previous year.

As smartphones are no longer being replaced so quickly, consumers also want long-term software support from manufacturers. In response to the question "What is important to you when choosing a private smartphone?", criteria such as "more robust screen glass" (98%), "screen quality" (95%), "battery life" (96%) and "storage space" (92%) are at the top of the list. However, "Long-term supply of updates" follows with only a low score and is on a par with "Camera quality" (87%).

When choosing a mobile provider, consumers look for good reception at their place of residence and the best possible network coverage (97% in each case, ahead of the best possible data speed (87%) and the lowest possible prices (81%)./chd/DP/stk