> Apple provides them access to
This is in many ways the same argument that ISPs used during the net neutrality debates as to why Netflix should have to pay them extra money. Netflix was using all the bandwidth, and ISPs were keeping that access fast... blah, blah, blah. Many of the objections that I had to ISPs trying to double-dip on bandwidth fees back then also apply to this idea that Apple's product to Netflix is its customers.
The thing is that Apple provides a platform for their customers to access Netflix. Apple benefits heavily from Netflix being on their platform, they would lose a lot of customers if every content provider decided to leave iOS tomorrow. Those customers pay Apple for a phone that they can use to watch their favorite TV shows, they pay Apple for a device that can keep pace in capabilities with other tablets and phone OSes on the market.
So the argument that Apple deserves compensation for maintaining a market that is itself regularly compensating them is the same kind of double dipping that ISPs tried to engage in. I pay my ISP for an Internet connection so that I can access websites. People pay Apple for good hardware with a good app store. That's the arrangement; the deal isn't really happening on Netflix's side of the table.
It's very difficult to argue that Apple has invested in best-of-class hardware for Netflix's sake. They did it so that people would pay them money to buy phones. Apple is not selling their phones at a loss, and they were clear during the recent trial with Epic that they do not look at the app store as a revenue target. Taking fees for maintenance is one thing, but it's very difficult to seriously argue that Apple had an idea for a 3rd-party platform and then made an attractive phone in order to support that platform. We all know that it's the other way around.
This talk about Apple being the gatekeeper that graciously allows companies access to a market is also a somewhat dangerous road to go down, because it creates a lot of perverse incentives for the company. I have no doubt that some parts of Apple's leadership do think of their customer base as an asset that they offer other companies. And I think that attitude can help explain some of Apple's lock-in behavior and refusal to work with other platforms, because when users are an asset to be horded and leveraged, it becomes more important to force them to be loyal and to make it harder for them to switch platforms based on your future business decisions.
I feel like one of the biggest lessons of the modern Internet is that it's dangerous for consumers when companies start referring to their customer base as a product. Apple is occasionally a breath of fresh air in that regard. But in this case, not so much.