Comment by dns_snek

> But someone has to pay for the costs of developing the SDKs and the platform.

Like their customers who happily pay a premium of $hundreds on every device sold? Talking about a free-rider "problem" in connection with literally the richest corporation in the world is diabolical. They develop the SDKs and the platform because that's the foundation of their business, nobody would buy an iPhone that doesn't have any 3rd party apps.

What's the cost of developing the SDK and the platform amortized over the number of devices that Apple sells? Is it $0.50, $5, $50, or $500?

> oh poor multi-billion dollar Apple can’t get paid

Apple is 1000x richer than that, they're a multi-trillion dollar company.