Because they don't make money directly from iMessage, they make money by selling the hardware, and the fact that iMessage only works on their hardware increases it's value and further locks you into their ecosystem.
It's certainly true iMessage isn't monetised today, but it doesn't mean it couldn't be in the future. If China is anything to go by, people do everything on their IM app.
Lock in - how many people are locked into Apple because of iMessage? I think it's just an ancillary service to most people, with WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, or WeChat in China being their main IM app. The longer this is the case, the less relevant iMessage becomes.
Have you forgotten about apple credit card/apple pay? apple has already gotten into payments but they own the whole hardware platform, they don't need to shoehorn a tab into iMessage like WeChat has to
dharma1|6 years ago
Lock in - how many people are locked into Apple because of iMessage? I think it's just an ancillary service to most people, with WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, or WeChat in China being their main IM app. The longer this is the case, the less relevant iMessage becomes.
kkarakk|6 years ago