That's true! Still, in some cases, a contract doesn't offer bad value. My Mum ordered an iPhone 6 this week, on contract. £90 up front, then £25 for 24 months,

That's true! Still, in some cases, a contract doesn't offer bad value. My Mum ordered an iPhone 6 this week, on contract. £90 up front, then £25 for 24 months, so £690 in total over the 2 years. To buy the phone outright from Apple would be £539, leaving £151 over the 24 months (£6.29/m) for a sim-only plan, which wouldn't have offered as much data/minutes/texts as the contract did. However, if you're buying an iPhone straight after launch, there's a much stronger case for outright purchase, as the contracts are initially much less competitive.