Portable electronic products are often exposed to relatively harsh operatingenvironments, due to the likelihood of dropping and impacting with other objects. In this paper, the studies on shock response and shock protection of portable electronics arereviewed. The engineering background as well as applicable industrystandards are summarized first. A comprehensive literature review related tothis field, includes information on the engineeringbackground, relevant experiments (e.g. drop tests and shock tests),theoretical models, simulations and conclusions.