> In fact it's only a closed system with a single gatekeeper that can avoid this problem at scale, because it's the only way to maintain clear lines of responsibility.

PC hardware is available from arbitrarily many vendors and you can install stock Windows or Linux on pretty much all of it. Many of the OEMs preinstall their various spyware, but you don't have to buy from them to begin with, and even then they can't stop you from removing it.

The primary difference in the phone market is the lack of open source drivers, so you can't install stock Android on your arbitrary phone because it needs the specific weird kernel it came with. But basically everybody hates that -- even the OEMs, because they neither want to be blamed for not providing updates nor want to have to actually provide them themselves. So it's slowly changing.

And even now, as a customer, there are unlocked devices available that will run stock Android, all you have to do is buy one of them.