So the original commenter wants Apple to give their devices at cost, no margin… sure, whatever
That's certainly possible. There are many commenters who make statements that Apple's products or services should cost $X, when that cost would likely lose Apple money, even with Apple's solid to high margins. There are many people who do not understand how businesses function. I'm not saying Apple's fees are appropriate (what I believe about the issue isn't important here); what I'm concerned about are people commenting without trying to think things through.
There was a commenter the other day who suggested Apple should have a 5% fee for the App Store, or at least that such a fee wouldn't be controversial. The problem is that that fee would almost certainly lose Apple money, even with high services margins. "Well, Apple should pay for everything with what we pay for hardware!" Maybe, but as I've said for years, Apple's higher services margins allow Apple to keep hardware margins lower. Apple is not Amazon. Apple's executives value margins and have for decades.
Look at Microsoft. Microsoft is not much of a hardware company but Microsoft has gross margins of about 70%! They were "only" 62% in 2016, which was a low point for them. What about Adobe? 88% margins.
Net margins are much lower, of course, but they are also lower for Apple. Microsoft and Adobe are not Apple and Apple is neither of those companies. However, services is a high margin area. Apple keeping high services margins helps Apple make more money to develop new products. If services margins are cut, Apple will raise hardware prices. "Apple shouldn't be so greedy!" Maybe, but Apple is a company with a particular business approach. Changing it will require different leadership. Changing it also might change Apple to something unrecognizable.
