In order to add lightning support to a device of yours you need to be part of the MFI program which comes with NDAs, influence on functionality through Apple an

In order to add lightning support to a device of yours you need to be part of the MFI program which comes with NDAs, influence on functionality through Apple and, of course, a license fee per unit you ship. If lightning was purely about the technical advantages it provides, they would have made it an open standard or at least documented it. There were some technical reasons for not going with MicroUSB of course, but don't tell me that their MFI licensing model isn't a huge reason for a proprietary connector.