> Just look at cell service providers giving them away for free

In North America which is in a different universe in this regard compared to the rest of the world. Where I'm from, carriers sell SIM cards and that's it. Postpaid plans aren't a thing. You buy your phone separately in an electronics store, for full price. This applies to iPhones as well.

You ignored Amazon fire phone.

Another example would be gaming consoles. The console makers definitely take a cut of all the games that are released on their platform

There is a difference with games consoles, in that games do not compete with each other in the same way. Someone might buy Zelda by Nintendo, but also buy a third party RPG. Very few people will pay for Apple Music and Spotify at the same time.

I also see many people saying that they won't install WhatsApp, and will only use iMessage.

As long as Apple competes directly with its own customers the platform will be unfair.

> You ignored Amazon fire phone.

Yes, because I have no idea why it is so apparently special. I do know that they sell kindles so cheaply because they hope people would be buying books from them.

> Another example would be gaming consoles.

Except those are never marketed as general-purpose pocket computer devices like iPhones are. They are appliances. Getting your hands onto an SDK for a gaming console requires being a company, signing an NDA, and probably committing to lots of other conditions.

Why should the Amazon Fire Phone be looked at as an example for anything? It was a colossal failure by every major except for the amount of e waste it generated.