This isn't an answer, so much as a sketch of my guess at answer, but check out "path dependence": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_dependence https://en.wikip

This isn't an answer, so much as a sketch of my guess at answer, but check out "path dependence": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_dependence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_dependence If they go down the right path right at the beginning, a bit of payoff in the right places in McDonalds (which, remember, can be just taking the right people out to a really nice dinner every so often), and it could be that one equipment supplier managed to go down a path that no other current supplier could ever hope to replicate because it really depends on some early decisions, and those suppliers no longer have any opportunity to make "early" decisions.