I assume you're being down-voted because you are comparing the price of a contract-free phone with that of a contract phone (but excluding the cost of the contr

I assume you're being down-voted because you are comparing the price of a contract-free phone with that of a contract phone (but excluding the cost of the contract). A quick look at the AT&T website suggest that to get that $49 iPhone, you need to sign up for at least $55 of services per month for 24 months, which comes to $1369 total. Sure, there are probably deals to be had, but you'll never get it down far enough to even pretend to compete with a $80 phone and $0-20/month off-contract minutes.