[alanfalcon]

I think it starts, at least, with simple practicality. Apple products usually sell in massive volumes. When they introduce some new aspect, they have to be able to produce huge numbers of this thing, and since it's new, the industrial capacity to produce at those numbers reliably does not exist. They have no choice but to buy out and invest in all the available capacity, because they rarely release innovations in some small-scale experimental product. They swing for the fences for a mass market home run almost every time.

And they do this so well because they're led by Tim Cook who approaches the big picture in part in terms of supply chain.

I don't argue that cornering the market isn't an accounted-for and desirable side-benefit of this arrangement. I just don't think it's usually the starting point for them.