Yes, Apple made a lot selling Ipods, but in my last post here I argued that they could of made billions if they didn't fumble the ball early on.
Imagine if ATI or Nvidia did NOT license their hardware. They would of lost what billions of dollars in profit? Please try to imagine the effect on the profit if ATI or Nvidia were greedy and tryed to have a monopoly. Imagine how much LESS money they would of made. Imagine how fewer advertisements there would of been for their cards. It is because of their licensing that they have hundreds of different companies each making their cards, and paying to advertise for them out of their own pocket. It is because of hundreds of companies advertising and promoting their products that they are so successful. It is THIS which Apple turned down in 1986, and it is THIS that cost them billions of dollars in profit.
I thought there would be a lot of conversation on this topic when I brought it up. I'm not sure if it is because people do not understand what I'm saying or if they do not believe me when I say Apple lost billions of dollars over trying to be a monopoly. Don't think most people can imagine the chain of events. It is like trying to imagine what would of happened to ATI or Nvidia if one or the other did not license their hardware. Imagine that, then you can understand how critical a mistake Apple made.