Consumers ultimately care about one thing when it comes to mobile devices: that they provide a
great user experience. Consumers don't care about "open," they don't care about app approval processes. They want a device that works for them in an effortless way.
I'm rooting for Android to put the death dagger in Windows Mobile, but ultimately I see an integrated system (a la the iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm model) coming out on top. Android fragmentation is going to be horrendous. Dozens and dozens of devices from different manufacturers with different model names running different variations of Android with different skins and different UI experiences. Consumers don't want that grief.
If your philosophy is correct, why did the iPod become the dominant player and not "Plays For Sure?" And why has Linux been a complete flop in the consumer space?
Does not compute.
And the small minority of buyers who care about the things you do can easily jailbreak the iPhone and have the best of both worlds (and many of them are doing just that).
Oh, and you seem to be forgetting that there is a "corporation interested solely in money" ruling over the Android empire: it's called Google. Or do you believe Android is a little charity project they're running on the side?