I seriously believe only a minority of users will switch to sideloading, thus minimizing the amount of lost revenue (if anything, maybe this might even lead to

I seriously believe only a minority of users will switch to sideloading, thus minimizing the amount of lost revenue (if anything, maybe this might even lead to some switching over from Android if it's now possible to get F-Droid and other Android-only equivalents). This also allows them to sidestep the many, many legal and governmental challenges that are now mounting over their use of the App Store. Saves them both time and money to open things up on their own terms first.