[6ren]

If there's demand for an API, one would expect competitors to arise; or at least, for someone to fill the niche left by an abandoned/bankrupted/acquired API... (unless it's a non-feasible business, e.g. giving too much away)

Then, the problem is the difficulty of integration: how hard it is to switch to another provider? In a mature industry, standards eventually arise that make switching easier, but not in the early days.