Only 14 percent of mobile phone owners in Central and Eastern Europe own a smartphone, while the percentage is smaller in Romania, found a recent study by GfK. The highest rate of smartphone users has been found in Slovenia, Turkey and Latvia. Accesing Internet on the mobile phone is connected to the rate of smartphones in these countries.

Owners of smartphones make around 31 percent of those shopping online, according to GfK's CEE Telco Industry Report 2011.

Around 75 percent of smartphone owners in Central and Eastern Europe go online on social networks to connect with other people.

The GfK study was conducted on 15,000 people in 15 countries.

editor@romania-insider.com