Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unless you are involved with Apple, we really don't know what choices they had. By all accounts their contracts with Google were set to expire, and they were in negotiations to renew. If those talks broke down and they did not have legal access to use Google data any longer, their hands were kind of tied.
You don't need to be involved with Apple to know they had choices. They knowingly relied on Google, and instead of planning earlier, they waited until the last possible moment to start putting resources into their own version. They choose to rely on Google. They choose to enter those agreements. They choose to ignore maps for the first 5 years. They choose not to start planning to move away sooner. You act like they…
Waiting to release the original iPhone until 2015 when Apple Maps was absolutely perfect would have been a choice, but not a reasonable one. Bootstrapping with Google's service was quite logical, and proved to be very successful.
And Apple Maps really isn't that bad. Perhaps not Google Maps good, but better than what the iPhone had prior. It is still a major upgrade for iOS users, even for all its faults.