Except that all your "analyses" are moronic.
Apple never claimed to have invented the Smart Phone just refined it to the point that their design became ubiquitous and smart phones actually became mainstream rather than a niche product. AT&T (and Verizon and all other carriers for that matter) realized that Apple had completely changed the game and their phones drove subscriptions to Carrier Voice and Data to such an extent that every carrier had to agree to Apple's terms and conditions.
Then virtually every manufacturer of mobile phones copied the form factor, touch screen design, and virtually every other factor in the design of the iPhone including Android's copying of the Look and Feel of the Apple Operating System. As any fair look at the recent history of cellular smart phone sales, the Apple form factor, look and feel, etc. and copies of it by Android phones has effectively won the marketplace. Alternative form factors, look and feel, etc. such as is represented by for example the BlackBerry mechanical thumb keyboard or other non-touch screen designs have been virtually completely replaced by the Apple inspired design.
To act as if Apple somehow magically forced the cellular carriers to simply hand over the bulk of their profits without acknowledging that this was an earned bargaining position based on consumer demand for the iPhone is not just an inaccurate reading of recent history, but in fact is such a ludicrous position to take that it requires the reader to completely abandon logic to adopt it. To assume that simply by wishing it Apple was able to get hard nosed executives running the major carriers to enter into contracts with Apple that basically gave away their profits to one of many cell phone providers which was offering an "inferior" product. We all of course have seen that the major carriers regularly give away their profits (Not). With all the basic premises of the story being demonstrably false it is easy to see why the conclusions the author has torturously tried to conjure likewise have no bass in fact nor logic.
Instead, the facts are Apple with it's design of the iPhone basically created the mass market for Smart Phones and through the continuing refinement of both the product and its operating system along with the development of the App market and its wise management of such market has earned the bulk of the profits in the entire cell phone industry. The survivors of the market have basically adopted copy-cat products based on a copy-cat operating system or alternatively they have either fallen out of the market or become so marginalized that they barely survive as niche players.
And consumers were far better off for it, Unlimited Data Plans (Which Apple required from AT&T for their USA exclusive), better security, better build quality and better value all came with Apple's Phones. I have upgraded my iPhone to the latest, greatest and most powerful model iPhone every 2 years and I have never not at least received what I had to pay out of pocket (and most times enough to also buy whatever accessories I required as well) by selling my now off contract phone to a buyer who was thrilled to get my two year old phone.
Value is not based on the gross price you pay buy rather on your net cost. In my case, I paid once for my first iPhone, I have paid a competitive monthly service rate, and have never needed to pay another dime beyond that for 3 additional iPhones always purchasing the latest, most powerful and full featured iPhone available with ever improving memory capacities, larger, better screens, faster and more powerful processors and constantly improving feature lists. I have enjoyed a growing App Market that makes my iPhone more valuable to me almost daily as have most Apple customers. To fail to recognize that this is the reality that led to Apple garnering the bulk of the profits in the cellular smart phone market is simply to deny reality.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
