In the long run (depending on your needs; I'm aware that you can get group discounts for contract plans), purchasing an unlocked phone upfront and going by a prepaid plan (especially from a MVNO) saves you more money over those two years.
Onto the thread topic itself...
These sales are all driven by the iPhone. When you miss expectations on your other products, can you really be said to be sitting pretty?
Lol, the sim free 126 gb version of iphone6+ large screen is $949! Base line is 750!
http://store.apple.com/us/buy-iphone/iphone6/5.5-inch-display-128gb-gold-unlocked