Around 27.2 million home in the UK have on average £127 worth of old gadgets at home
British people have £3.5 billion worth of unused technology lying dormant at home, according to a study.
The report was commissioned by Carphone Warehouse on 2,000 UK adults from November 2-9. The study revealed UK homes are hoarding around 4.4 million unwanted iPhones, 2.6 million old BlackBerrys, and more than three million homes have a classic Nokia 3210.
According to the Office of National Statistics, there are 27.2 million households in the UK generating an average of £127 worth old electronics gathering dust, totalling around £3.5 billion.
The top 10 unused old gadgets in UK homes are: mobile phones, chargers, TV remote controls, headphones, cameras, DVD players, mobile phone cases, digital cameras, laptops and CD players.
24 per cent of those polled said they keep old technology as back up to their current device of choice, while 10 per cent refuses to throw it away due to pictures and documents they still want. Another 25 per cent planned to upgrade to a new device and leave their old device dormant.
Brits let tech languish for an average of nine years while one in seven can take up to 20 years before disposing of them.
Dixons Carphone mobile commercial director Phil Samuels said: “Sometimes we keep it in case we need a spare someday, but often it’s just because we don’t know what else to do with it. As a result, the nation is hoarding a huge amount of tech which could be contributing to a brilliant Christmas present for someone else.”
This story is shared from our sister publication Mobile News