The average American now holds onto their smartphone for 29 months, according to a recent survey by Reviews.org, and that cycle is getting longer. The average was around 22 months in 2016.

While squeezing as much life out of your device as possible may save money in the short run, especially amid widespread fears about the strength of the consumer and job market, it might cost the economy in the long run, especially when device hoarding occurs at the level of corporations.

Research released by the Federal Reserve last month concludes that each additional year companies delay upgrading equipment results in a productivity decline of about one-third of a percent, with investment patterns accounting for approximately 55% of productivity gaps between advanced economies. The good news: businesses in the U.S. are generally quicker to reinvest in replacing aging equipment. The Federal Reserve report shows that if European productivity had matched U.S. investment patterns starting in 2000, the productivity gap between the U.S and European economic heavyweights would have been reduced by 29 percent for the U.K., 35 percent for France, and 101% for Germany.

    • notsure@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      5 hours ago

      …i believe only one country has “planned obsolescence” as an illegal business practice…

      • myrmidex@belgae.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        4 hours ago

        Bhutan?

        After a quick search, it seems to be France. I wouldn’t have guessed that in a thousand years, judging their car industry…

          • BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            21 minutes ago

            Good old French engineering. Calculations say we need at least a 9mm bolt to hold on this widget, every other bolt on the car is 10mm or 16mm. 9mm bolt it is.

            There’s something weirdly seductive about French cars though, they somehow manage to be extremely good at some specific niche feature and look nice and be just quality enough that you seem to talk yourself round to them.