>that their position is not so unassailable that they can continue looking for new ways to drive away partners and developers without consequences
I think most everyone wants more competition to keep any single company from being abusive, but your response to this is essentially "Apple is still #1!" I don't understand what you are saying here. Is it that you think Apple isn't really under any pressure? That you don't want them to make their developer/partner deals more generous?
How is Android a wakeup call? Apple's profits have been rising in that market segment, independent of who currently sells more phones and what OS phones run.
Apple now has Verizon support and is available in a lot of international markets.
Next the could diversify to different models, if that would help.
Apple lives from the focus of integrated hardware and software. But the real strength is the attention to the user.
With Android you got Google as the software sponsor, Google as the service provider, Google as the ad platform through which they drive their revenue and you got a multitude of hardware companies using their software.
We have seen similar models in the past, where the hardware companies had to pay the software provider their share for the software license. The Google model is indirect.
Apple has shown in recent years that they have no problem competing against these business models, even with a tiny market share. Apple does not sell by features or price.
My main problem with Apple is not about how their deals with developers or partners work, but that they don't allow me as a user to take full (or 'more') control of the device software. That for me as the user, I have no other choice as to get software from their store is limiting me.
>that their position is not so unassailable that they can continue looking for new ways to drive away partners and developers without consequences
I think most everyone wants more competition to keep any single company from being abusive, but your response to this is essentially "Apple is still #1!" I don't understand what you are saying here. Is it that you think Apple isn't really under any pressure? That you don't want them to make their developer/partner deals more generous?