They do order up a custom SoC package that then is actually manufactured by TSMC or Samsung - but do you think they would have to cut the price of their phones

They do order up a custom SoC package that then is actually manufactured by TSMC or Samsung - but do you think they would have to cut the price of their phones if they had to use the standard chips that Samsung, HTC etc use? I'd say no, they could charge nearly the same. Which means the complicated hardware is not the differentiator "killer app", the marketing around the custom OS and the ecosystem is. (Which is also why they don't sell iOS or macOS to other hardware firms - the hardware is good, but the software is the USP.)