[makeitdouble]

You seem to be painting Sony or Bose as some small upstart that struggle to get store shelf. I'm not sure to follow.

Sony funnily also has presence in many specialized and/or non tech shops (select goods shops etc.) where they could be only two or three earbuds. If Apple didn't get the certification, having a spot for Sony's or Bose's ones could have been a natural choice if the shop targeted that kind of demographic.

[criddell]

There aren't enough of those specialized shops to make a difference. Certainly not enough to present a sizeable disadvantage for Apple. If anything, not being in the Apple Store presents a sizeable disadvantage for Sony.