Smartphone users in India are upgrading their smartphones, earlier than planned, with broken screen glass due to the phone falling being a key reason. A study by Corning Incorporated, an innovator of material sciences and the maker of the popular Gorilla Glass protection layering for smartphones, notes that 87% of respondents admit to having dropped their phone in the past year.
“As smartphones become even more vital to how people work, communicate, and entertain themselves, durability is no longer a secondary specification. It’s central to the overall device experience,” says Andrew Beck, vice president and general manager, Corning Gorilla Glass. The survey of 1,509 smartphone users in India notes that “53% say broken glass pushed them to upgrade earlier than planned.”
Corning notes that there is a clear demand from consumers (74%) for phones with better durability, and six in ten users count display clarity as a top priority when choosing a phone.
Most phone brands in India have noticed this trend, and some have included a display replacement criterion as part of the overall warranty offered with the phones they sell. Or at a lower cost. Depending on brand, type of display and generation of the phone, display replacements can cost anywhere between ₹8,000 and ₹55,000.
OnePlus offers a lifetime display warranty for select smartphones that develop visible vertical lines or display failures. Samsung offers module replacements (frame, screen, battery) and front-screen-only replacements to lower costs, and also free screen replacements for specific models experiencing “green line” issues.
Not many brands list display replacement costs until users get a quote from the service centre, but some do. Samsung notes that the main screen assembly replacement for the Galaxy Z Fold7 is priced around ₹51,810 while the cover screen costs around ₹7,490. For the flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra, the main screen costs around ₹16,010 while the frame costs ₹5,190.
“Consumers are telling us they want devices that can better withstand real-world use without compromising performance, design, or clarity. Gorilla Glass is engineered to deliver advanced, science-backed materials that give consumers greater confidence in the products they choose,” says Beck.
There are also alternatives to official service centres. Renewed tech platform ControlZ launched RenewHub services in December, which they claim are 80% more cost effective than official centres. The pitch is, “OEM-grade components”.
For instance, an Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max display, which Apple service centres will charge ₹43,200 to replace, costs ₹15,999 at ControlZ’s Renew Hub. Yug Bhatia, Founder and CEO of ControlZ, told HT that “our repairs come from a factory grade line, not a service table.” He added that every device goes through more than 300 checks after every repair.
Corning’s Beck wants phone makers to notice that users want to hold on to smartphones for longer, but that’s only possible if design and functionality is paired with proven durability. “Consumers don’t have to sacrifice how their devices look, feel, or perform over time,” he says.
Corning’s Gorilla Glass now figures prominently in devices launched by phone makers, and is a key element to the pitch they make to potential buyers. Motorola Razr Fold, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 Pro+ 5G, are some key examples. Corning also makes the protective display layer for wearables such as smart watches, as well as laptops including the HP EliteBook X G2i and the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI.
