I've bought a new iPhone ever since the introduction of the iPhone 3G in 2008. This year, however, I was not entitled to a fully subsidized phone and I ended up paying $549 ($299 32GB + $250 early upgrade fee - not counting sales tax AND the retarded-ass upgrade fee of $36) and I don't want to do that every year. Especially if next year I don't even qualify for the "early upgrade" and I have to pay full price.
Yeah, I sold my iPhone 4S (32GB) and recovered $450 of it, BUT, now that I have the iPhone 5 I see that I could have kept my iPhone 4S and been perfectly fine with it.
I plan on staying off of the "S" cycles from here on out, allowing me to qualify for a full subsidy every two years, when a redesigng is launched.
However, this is Apple we're talking about. I'm sure next year NFC (or some other ground-shaking MUST HAVE feature) will be introduced with the iPhone 5S and the fanboy in me will be quick to whip out the credit card and pre-order at whatever ungodly hour of the night Apple opens up the online store for orders. Who am I kidding??
I know I won't have the will power.
Nevertheless, it alway sounds good in theory!