Apple is a niche player only because they clung to their margins like a bag of heroin and let cheap Android phones eat their lunch. If it weren't for Android they would have zero serious competition.
I find myself in the very odd position today of having for the first time some sympathy with the Brexiters.
Even Google used to have maps versions that targeted those platforms, before they went with Android.
Every OEM release of Android is forked so your statement doesn't make sense.
>Additionally, if Google were to move solely into the Pixel space, it would fail, overtaken by Samsung and other OEMs which know how to run a hardware business.
Google doesn't need to confine their OS to just Pixel devices. They can also work with any OEM that wants to ship the Google version of Android and GMS - (Nokia, Motorola, etc). Given a choice, consumers would easily choose a phone running Android with GMS over any other non iOS device. Furthermore, Google could also close source Android and not continue to give Samsung a free OS to cake their services on. The decline of Samsung as they scramble to make Tizen their only smartphone OS would be entertaining to watch.
>And without the big Android bully in the picture, it's likely new Linux-based OSes would find a place to flourish.
Yes, just like all of those desktop Linux distributions have flourished.
>You are forgetting there are dozens of manufacturers who all have large mobile phone businesses
You mean the same ones that can't write operating systems or secure their devices?
There is no scenario where Apple becomes a big scary monopoly that wins everything. That's what Google is, and that's why they're being fined.