It's not an antitrust concern, n But those sort of deals, unless you are talking BIG developers,means additional expense for very limited benefits. Company A

It's not an antitrust concern, n But those sort of deals, unless you are talking BIG developers,means additional expense for very limited benefits. Company A promises to make it's app exclusive to iOS... that means enforcement, monitoring other markets etc. For less money. And the marginal benefits in increased individual customer numbers probably isn't worth it. How many more people would buy an iPhone if Angry Birds was an iOS exclusive? Is the money you would make from them ofset not just by the lost revenue, but the uses that that revenue could be put (additional advertising, increased resources for developers, etc). If Apple sees a company that it wants to make exclusive, it's better off just acquiring it. And that's just what it does. In fact, I expect to see at least a few companies that make goverement or enterprise software for iOS to be acquired in the coming year, because locking in institutional customers to a single platform IS a moneymaker.