[cameronh90]

My Pixel 2 was actually cheaper through EE in the UK than it was to buy it SIM free.

It's never happened before or since.

[pydry]

When I worked in the travel industry some luxury hotels would agree to do deals where heavily discounted hotels would be bundled with flights.

They wanted to sell at < £X without the appearance of having sold a premium product so cheaply. Bundling with the flight hid the cost.

It's possible this happens occasionally for phones but I doubt it's common.