Yes. It's extremely unlikely that the margin on repairs would offset the loss of sales from an easily breakable phone, not to mention the impact of a poor reputation on sales of future versions.

That they designed it specifically to get extra revenue through repairs or replacements on what is, by most accounts, essentially a margin-free device? Yes, very crazy.

But it's fair to say that the designers had different priorities (primarily aesthetic ones - weight, thinness) which mean the device is more breakable than it could be. The iPhone is the same.