Apple iPhone Costs British Economy £800m Each Year

Apple's iconic iPhone could be costing British businesses as much £800 million a year, if analysis by an online bingo site is to be believed. 55% of the iPhone users who were surveyed by iBingo.co.uk admitted that they played games on their devices while they should be working, spending on average one hour each per week. A total of 57 million working hours would be lost if the percentage was replicated throughout the 2,000,000 iPhone owners in the UK. One of the most popular games for the device is Rovio's Angry Birds, which has been downloaded more than 250 million times, netting Apple tens millions of dollars in the process. The latest survey comes less than a month after it was revealed that civil servants in the UK spend a good part of their day browsing the Internet for non-work related tasks. Other popular locations for playing games on the iPhone included public transport (72%) and in the pub (28%). Meanwhile, iPhone owners are apparently not shy about taking their phones in to the bathroom, with 28% playing while on the toilet and a brave 17% when in the bath. Presumably they excercise great caution swiping in the tub, given that any contact with water results in Apple's warranty being instantly void. Ben Crawford, speaking on behalf of the bingo site, said:

"Through sites such as iBingo.co.uk, players can now enjoy the game while commuting to and from work, in the pub or even at the Supermarket checkout. This freedom comes thanks to significant development within mobile technology which now allows us to access the Internet far more freely and securely when on the move."

Whether or not iBingo condones people playing bingo while at work, however, is left open to debate.