The benefits of using it Kill Switch, that is to say, the automatic dismantling of one smartphone when it is stolen, it goes without saying since its implementation would have prevented it in the first place theft of the devices, as these would become essentially useless.
However, Professor William Duckworth, of the University of Creighton, went one step further, giving the above rationale and the parameter of economic impact.
More specifically, Professor Duckworth conducted a survey involving 1.200 individuals and estimated that consumers could save up to $ 2,5 in billions of dollars if the tactics of remotely disposing of a stolen device, namely the implementation of Kill Switch .
This amount comes from 500 million dollars that will save users to buy a new device, after the theft of the previous and other 2 billion dollars, from avoiding insurance costs for the theft of their devices. As can be easily seen, the study shows the benefit to ordinary consumers, but not the corresponding losses of telecommunications and insurance companies.
Asurion, an electronics insurance firm, claims that 60% of "missing" devices are simply lost and not theft. At the same time, the implementation of Kill Switch will not totally deter thefts, as there will always be a need to use devices as a source of spare parts.
It is worth noting that both the US Congress (Senate and House of Representatives) have introduced bills for the establishment of the Kill Switch, but their vote has not yet been scheduled. Also, in Professor Duckworth's research, 99% of users would like to establish this feature to reduce device theft.
Delays appear to be the result of pressure from telecoms companies. In his article, Warranty Week magazine argues that the top four providers on USA they had for 2013 income 7,8 billion dollars from providing insurance services to their clients.