[lxgr]

> I really don’t think Apple consider iMessage exclusivity that important.

Then you missed the part where Apple executives explicitly said so in writing:

> "the #1 most difficult [reason] to leave the Apple universe app is iMessage . . . iMessage amounts to serious lock-in." Schiller stated that "moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us, this email illustrates why."

https://www.phonearena.com/news/imessage-locks-ios-users-int...

[peyton]

If Schiller had to make those points in what sounds like an internal debate, and the plan of record at some point was iMessage on Android, then it follows that Apple didn’t see it as that important.