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Americans are no longer in a rush to upgrade their phones, and it’s beginning to take a toll on the country’s economic engine. From Tucson to New York, from one-man startups to sprawling corporations, devices that should’ve been retired years ago are still limping along, and it’s dragging down everything from workplace performance to national productivity. According to Reviews.org, the average smartphone in America is now held for 29 months, up from 22 months in 2016. That may not sound dramatic, but when multiplied by millions of consumers and thousands of companies, those extra months spell trouble. According to CNBC, people just aren’t swapping out devices like they used to, and the domino effect is becoming clearer by the year. Heather Mitchell, an American retiree living in Tucson, is one of many Americans stretching the life of their old tech. Her Samsung Galaxy A71 is six years old, and while she admits it’s “a jalopy,” she has no plans to trade it in. “I love Samsung phones, but can not afford a new one right now. A new phone would be a luxury,” Heather said. Aging gadgets, falling productivity, and a costly wait That kind of decision might make sense for someone on a tight budget, but when businesses start doing the same, the cost is much higher. A recent report from the Federal Reserve found that for every extra year companies delay tech upgrades, overall productivity falls by about a third of a percent. Stretch that across the entire economy and it’s a hit worth billions. America still leads when it comes to corporate reinvestment, but the impact is visible globally. If investment patterns in Europe had mirrored the U.S. since 2000, the productivity gap with the U.S. would’ve shrunk by 29% for the U.K., 35% for France, and…

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Filed under: News - @ November 23, 2025 9:21 pm