Contact Members Join
AmCham Romania
Members only
Home |Privacy policy
News from Members EY Study: Romanians are Using their Devices Everywhere, Starting Early in the Morning, and Check them Tens of Times Daily

EY Study: Romanians are Using their Devices Everywhere, Starting Early in the Morning, and Check them Tens of Times Daily


  • 62 % of smartphone users use this kind of mobile device between two and six times a day
  • Two thirds of mobile device users check their devices in the morning, within the first half hour since waking up
  • 41 % of youngsters (aged between 25 and 35) are checking their mobile devices more than 200 times a day
  • 60 % of respondents are using business applications and 60 % are using photo & video applications

Digital mobility and connectivity become increasingly important for personal life, as well as for the business environment, according to a study EY Romania published today and called Utilizarea dispozitivelor mobile (Mobile devices usage). The study analyses perceptions of mobile devices users in Romania regarding the time spent with the mobile device, what kind of content is accessed, what kind of applications are downloaded and benefits they associate to non-PC mobile device usage (smartphone, tablet, mobile phone, phablet, smartwatch and fitness bracelet).

Romanian users are taking their mobile devices everywhere with them. They perform frequent check-ups and quite often they use several mobile devices simultaneously. The Top 3 most used mobile devices every day shows that 62 % of smartphone users, 23 % of mobile phone users and 18 % of tablet users make use of these devices between two and more than six hours daily.

Even more, two thirds of respondents say that the time passing between the wake-up moment and the first check-up of their mobile device is less than half an hour. 29 % of respondents seem to have adopted a morning routine where they check their mobile device before breakfast and sometimes even before washing their faces.

This increase in terms of connectivity needs reflects not only in terms of first acts the users perform in the mornings, but also in terms of frequency these users check their mobile devices during normal day times. 52 % of respondents say they look at their mobile devices between 11 and 50 times a day, while 22 % are looking at their devices between 51 and 200 times a day. The biggest mobile device usage frequency – more than 200 times within 24 hours – was recorded for users aged between 25 and 35 (41%). This age segment is followed, in terms of usage frequency, by users aged between 45 and 55 (26 %).

"Digital convergence is irremediably affecting not only businesses in Western economies, but all industries and all geographies. This fast pace digital convergence also coerces Romanian businesses to take into account changes brought by it. This is why we aimed to single out a certain element within the digital change landscape and to explore the way mobile device usage change user behavior and determines a lot of industries to adapt themselves to the new trends. We thus want to facilitate a better understanding of these new behavioral patterns and to help businesses in their effort to adapt to the new realities," says Bogdan Ion, EY Romania Country Managing Partner.

Industries offering users the best mobile device information accessing experience are:

  • Media and entertainment (63 % of respondents)
  • Financial and banking services industry (52 %)
  • Technology and IT (47%)
  • Telecommunications (36%)

Industries like buildings and real estate (8%), leasing and insurance (4%) and oil & gas (3 %) have yet to improve the mobile device information accessing experience of users.

Global studies estimate a 55% annual increase in terms of video traffic by 2020, an increase fueled by video streaming services and video content expansion inside the media and advertising space. 37% of the respondents see between one and five video contents per week, 21% see more than 15 video contents per week, 19% see between six and ten video contents per week, while only 14% of the respondents say they see no video content.

The EY study also highlights the use of a large number of applications, which may be explained due to different categories these applications belong to: 66% of the respondents use business type applications, 60% of them use photo & video type applications and 46 % of them use music and entertainment applications. Applications least used belong to categories like lifestyle (28 %), health & fitness (25 %) and sports (17%).

"Mobile devices have significantly changed the way we want to interact with information. They are besides us, they are part of our lives, and the impact they already made upon all age categories is huge. The way the technological advance and the digital transformation we work our way through are advancing new modalities for us to interact and access information is changing the existential paradigm in many industries, from media and telecommunications to financial and banking or healthcare services. And this is only the beginning…," says Elena Badea, EY Romania Marketing Director.

About the study
The "Mobile device usage" study analyses perceptions of users in Romania regarding the usage period of mobile devices, the content accessed, the applications downloaded or the benefits users associate to mobile device usage. In referring to mobile devices, the study takes into account a distinctive non-PC technology category that includes the following devices: smartphone, tablet, mobile phone, phablet, smartwatch, fitness bracelet. The analysis is based on a number of 1,040 answers provided by respondents to a questionnaire that included 33 different questions. The answers have been received between June 8 and June 29, 2015. The respondents mostly come from urban areas in 31 Romanian counties and are aged between 18 and 55+.

About EY Romania

EY is one of the world's leading professional services firms with approximately cu 212.000 employees in 700 offices across 150 countries, and revenues of approximately $28,7 billion in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2014. Our network is the most integrated at global level and its vast resources allow us to help our clients benefit from every opportunity. In Romania, EY has been a leader on the professional services market since its set up in 1992. Our over 650 employees in Romania and Moldova provide seamless assurance, tax, transactions, and advisory services to clients ranging from multinationals to local companies. Our offices are based in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi and Chisinau. EY Romania is the most attractive employer in consultancy in the country, and the most sought after employer out of the Big4, according to studies conducted by Catalyst and Trendence 2015. For more information, please visit www.ey.com.

More from News from Members

Previous Next