Che sorpresa! Italy leads Europe in smartphone use

Italians are born to communicate, and they're loving their new mezzo – the smartphone. Now they have social networking apps to use alongside arm gestures and strong voices.

Italians use smartphones and tablets more than the rest of Europe, spending approximately two billion euros annually on hi-tech accessories. The Doxa research agency, which conducted a survey for Ebay.it, said Italians spent 20% more on hi-tech products in 2010 than they did in the previous year.

The most purchased devices were cellphones, up 45%, namely thanks to iPhone sales which rose by 119%. According to a study by CBS Outdoor-Europe and Harris Interactive, 99% of all Italians have at least one cellphone compared to just 96% of Europeans as a whole. Nearly 60% of Italian cellphone users use surf the net with their phones, whereas only 52% of Europeans in general do the same. The same report said that 3 out of 5 Italians are fond of their hi-tech gear.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.