The “use that money to buy something else” part means the premise of the title is not just misguided for all the reasons others point out, but it’s wrong even from a pure “capitalism must go up” view. The people who are keeping phones longer are spending money on other things, driving the economy just as much or potentially more. The extreme rich people and corporations who are hoarding wealth (thus withdrawing it from the economy) are still buying new phones every year as a status symbol.