SIM-only: the end of cash cow mobile deals?

Just bought myself a new phone HTC Desire HD, it has some really good points (and a couple of niggles), plenty of good reviews out there, so my POV on pro’s and con’s maybe in another post.did the math…save £400 over 30 months.

It was cheaper to buy myself a handset…

…then I bought a sim only rental – thanks giffgaff

I pay 400-odd (ex VAT) for the phone from those nice people at Clove, amortise that over 30 months (£13.33/month) then get an intro offer from giffgaff at £10/month (or £8.50 ex) so am paying around  £x22 a month.

I do less than 200/month and 150mb/month data. that’s well within the terms of my giffgaff.

If I were to get it on contract i’d be paying 30-40 a month, for 30 months (£900-£1200)

…and… if I have a hissy fit with my carrier, I can walk.

so does this mean the end of contracts?

Or do people still prefer to buy a pre-packaged bundle and save themselves the research?

I’m sure that the mobile phone companies would react if it became a major issue, but I think that people are getting more annoyed with the “theatre support” that they get from mobile phone companies, and as mobile phones become more like mobile computers which can also make phone calls, the phone companies may be more peripheral.  The mobile phone companies tried to do their walled gardens with apps, and that was a miserable failure.

I think that there will be a growing trend towards more independent mobile phone use for more technical people.  But for the more appliance orientated (and the iPhone is the king of the castle here), I think that a lot of people will want to have the comfort of a package.