One-third of Aussies lose mobile phones: survey

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 07 April 2010 16:35

Your IT - Mobility

Some survey results are more believable that others. Do you reckon one-third of Australians have either lost a mobile phone or had one stolen?

According to a March survey of 1001 Australian residents, 32% of them have either lost a mobile phone or had one stolen.

That sounds like a large proportion, but we'll gloss over that and look at the breakdown, which is a bit more convincing.

Firstly, 39% of men reported such a loss but only 26% of women. A possible explanation is that in general, men tend to pocket their phones while women seem more likely to stash them in a bag.

This also helps to explain why the men were slightly more likely than women to have lost their phones in a taxi or on public transport (28% vs 26%)_ - it's relatively easy for a phone to slip out of a trouser pocket in those situations.

On the other hand, women were more likely to have lost a phone in a pub or bar (17% vs 10%). This could be because the sneak theft of a bag requires less skill than pickpocketing.

Which groups are most likely to have lost phones? See page two.