New York, Mar 7 (IANS): Nearly 49 percent American smartphone users have either broken or lost their devices summing up to almost 230,685,172 broken or lost mobile phones, a study by the US-based Verizon and KRC Research said.

About 43 percent of the people have damaged the device by dropping it in water and nearly 42 percent of them sent it through the wash.

Other embarrassing ways included throwing it, dropping it out of the window, spilling something on it, tripping and landing on it or finding their pet playing/chewing on it, the study said.

The study also revealed that on an average Americans broke or lost two mobile phones with lower the age the higher is the possibility of damage.

Two out of three millennials (those born between about 1980 and 2000) have damaged their devices and account for 67 percent of all the people who damaged their devices. Generation Xers (born between the mid-1960s and 1980) follow them at 58 percent.

Interestingly, 67 percent parents have broken or lost their mobile phones than phone owners without children (38 percent).

Fiftyfour percent of mobile phone owners drop their phone at least once a week, and 45 percent misplace their phone at least once a week, the survey revealed.

"Nearly half (46 percent) of millennials would cry over a broken or lost mobile phone, and just as many would replace it before they ever had to own up to how they broke or lost their mobile phone (45 percent)," the report said.

"One in four (26 percent) millennials would even lie about how they broke or lost it," the report added.

Rather than break or lose their mobile phone, one in three (34 percent) said they would prefer to lose other important items including their bed, keys, and even friends.

The survey was conducted online with 1,026 US adults from February 18 to February 21.