Clearly, other companies are prepared to ship with less preparation than Apple, but Apple would not have been where they are with the iPhone if their only reasoning was to "deliver a faster replacement phone at the end of contract". They innovated on iOS, app-marketplace, Siri (still being worked on...) and Airplay, to mention a few. All of them replacing similar too-early-too-crappy competitor innovations.
That the iPhone 5 did not add "one more thing" either means Apple does not think it's necessary (exposing themselves, like Nokia did, to the risk of the "next Apple" showing up with a great re-innovation), or because they couldn't get it done in time or with the technology available (which means they should invest more in R&D - they can afford it).
I'm very happy Apple both innovates and puts the bar high - I'd rather have good NFC from Apple than ok NFC from Google. It's good for users. For the time being, I will give them the benefit of the doubt that the new stuff - NFC, fingerprint, new batteries, etc - is simply not mature enough yet. But if Apple stops trying, they won't be able to sustain their curve. Android is already grabbing most new users - at which point will they start grabbing iPhone users?