All corporations do this in one way or another, so this is a generic anti-corporate argument. In the case of Apple, it is clearly irrelevant since they have such a tiny market share.
People are reading this because despite a small market share, Apple is more successful than any other PC, Tablet, or Phone maker.
It's easy to point to rising market share less than one month after an annual product release. If it wasn't rising at that point they'd be in Blackberry territory. Typically, Apple is presented as having a losing strategy, and the current market share in the US is regarded as a anomaly that will quickly be corrected as 'Good Enough' Android phones such as the Nexus series or Galaxy S4 are recognized as being equivalent.
if their market share is so tiny, why is anyone reading this story on HN?
in the US, iOS isn't irrelevant, Apple has 40% smartphone market share and rising.