Apple competitors having to sell 1.5-2.5 phones each to match Apple's profit on 1 iPhone is what this and thousands of stockholders cares about.
Yes, profit is important, but if you don't have the market share, your product eventually gets marginalized. You can make 10x the profit of an Android phone and it won't matter if you only sell a few thousand units. Market share and keeping the product at the forefront of the consumer minds when they consider a smartphone is VERY important. Not being on Verizon has been fine for the first few generations, but it will eventually limit sales.