Personally, I would sync my iPhone to Exchange or Gmail (including contacts). Then I'd synchronise my new device to the same service (unless we're talking about a "dumb" phone).
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You cannot copy iPhone contacts to the SIM. The iPhone does not store or reference contacts on a SIM. The iPhone contact format is not compatible with a SIM; it has a lot more information than a SIM can contain.
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The way to protect against crashes is to sync your iPhone to Address Book on your computer on a regular basis. This is how the phone is intended to be used.
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You can copy contacts to another iPhone by syncing with Address Book on your computer.
Personally, I would sync my iPhone to Exchange or Gmail (including contacts). Then I'd synchronise my new device to the same service (unless we're talking about a "dumb" phone).