60% of teenagers describing themselves as "highly addicted" to their iPhone or BlackBerry -
Britons' appetite for Facebook and social networks on the go is driving a huge demand for smartphones – with 60% of teenagers describing themselves as "highly addicted" to their device – according to new research by the media regulator, Ofcom.
Almost half of teenagers and more than a quarter of adults now own a smartphone, with most using their iPhone or BlackBerry to browse Facebook and email.
The study, published on Thursday, also shows that smartphones have begun to intrude on our most private moments, with 47% of teenagers admitting to using their device in the toilet. Only 22% of adults confessed to the same habit. Unsurprisingly, mobile-addicted teens are more likely than adults to be distracted by their phones over dinner and in the cinema – and more would answer their phone if it woke them up.
Separate figures shared exclusively with the Guardian show that, for the first time, smartphone sales outstripped sales of regular mobiles in the first half of this year as the enormous demand continues to rise. Just over half of the total 13.6m mobile sales from January to June 2011 were smartphones, according to research by GfK Retail and Technology UK.
Of the new generation of smartphone users, 60% of teenagers classed themselves as "highly addicted" to their device, compared to 37% of adults.
Ofcom surveyed 2,073 adults and 521 children and teenagers in March this year. The regulator defines teenagers as aged between 12 and 15, with adults 16-years-old and above.
"Ofcom's report shows the influence that communications technology now has on our daily lives, and on the way we behave and communicate with each other," said James Thickett, Ofcom's director of research.
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