because of the cut in digital sales theyd get. phone companies are the current front, but its going to get extremely messy when the front gets for example, put into the console gaming front. its all for money for software they did not develop and prevent that money from going to any other payment processor.

for example on the PS5 front, sony makes more than 50% of their revenue on live service games. none that they actually own themselves. Apple, and to a lesser extent, Google, apply that for ALL software, and gain additional money from developer subscriptions. It's the same fear Valve had back when Microsoft was pushing for the Microsoft Store to become the defacto storefront for personal computers. that push however failed miserably.

This is why.

"Even if a firm gains monopoly power, the Chicago school prefers to allow the market to correct the problem rather than to rely on government intervention". And of course, Reagan.

Phones were already restricted by what could be installed on them prior to smart devices entering the scene.

Given how powerful the hardware is, it should have eased up long ago. They've over played their hand and are still unable to acknowledge it.

Money.