> This just isn't true. The data of people who have more money to spend is more attractive than that of those who do not. Also having more money to spend means that data can be used for targeted advertising or just knowing what people with money are interested in and where to focus efforts.

Still, Android has a far larger user base than iOS, and if this third party app store data funnel scheme was such a great idea, you'd think they would have tried it out there at least.

To date, Facebook's only attempts to branch off on mobile have been the Facebook Home Android UI/lock screen, and maybe the HTC First. Both don't really inspire confidence in future efforts, but sure, it's been a decade. Would you put money on modern FB being better at launching new successful products that consumers want, compared to FB ten years ago?

> I don't get the impression that there is a large number of people on FB saying "If they step over the line 1 more time I'm leaving", at this point it's people who just don't care.

It's more like, "If they ask me to sign up and manage yet another user account with payment methods and privacy settings and more notifications to worry about, I'm not going to bother and I'll use the mobile website." Or, "I don't even use Facebook much anymore, I'll just use it on desktop or not at all."

> They can even make a big hullabaloo about "This lets us get fixes and features out to you faster and lets you easily opt into our beta channel".

And users, even those who don't know or care about privacy, would be annoyed because this is another hoop they have to jump through, in the modern era where there are multitudes of social media networks, streaming platforms, and so forth to worry about. Many won't bother to sign up for yet another app store, and that will undercut Facebook's own user base.

You really need to get past this core problem of user burnout. Everything is fragmented across services these days. Perhaps there might even be a startup idea in it for easy account management/signup a la 1Password. I guess Sign In with Apple helps with this a little.

> Their bad behavior is clearly visible, I'm completely unclear as to what the EU doesn't seem to care. They seem to be laser focused on mobile to the determinant of desktop and consoles.

All in due time. Who says they don't care? Perhaps you should cast a wider net for news articles.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-targeted-fresh-eu-...

https://internationalbanker.com/technology/eu-antitrust-legi...

> MS had devices/OS that no one wanted,

People didn't want their OS because they couldn't secure the apps the people wanted. Which will also be an issue for these 3rd party app stores, as people can just go to the official store, or you deal with mutually assured destruction scenarios (see below).

> RIM was late to the game and had their lunch eaten by that point.

Fair, but couldn't you say the same about Meta/Google iOS stores?

> As for Amazon/Samsung they capture a lot of a value by making themselves the default but more importantly, all of these examples are platform providers, not app developers (at their root). Meaning, they make their money by taking a cut, not by selling apps themselves or even through ads in apps (maybe ads in their store).

I'm almost certain that Amazon just has it as a means to sell the content (eBooks, music, movies) that they host, and Samsung just packages as bloatware as it their wont. They don't actually invest in their Android 3rd party stores because there's no compelling reason to use them instead of the Play Store.

> The calculus changes for someone like FB, EA, EPIC, etc, especially for less savory app creators who don't care about privacy.

App creators are going to publish to multiple app stores to get the largest user base, though sure, as with game consoles, perhaps the ones running different stores might cut them exclusivity deals. Epic does want its own app store to get past the 30% cut, but I'm wondering if them or EA even has enough iOS games signed up with them for them to pursue the creation of yet another Origin store that gamers hate. I can't imagine the bulk of EA-affiliated mobile games being anything but tie-in material, not exactly Fortnite. Maybe they'll expand their mobile division, who knows. Ultimately, Apple Arcade is hard to beat.

> I'm not saying that FB will create a store and become the number 1 app store, but that they will release their apps via their own store (with it's own rules, or lack thereof) and users will be forced/tricked/incentivized into using it.

And that's the crux of it: I'm saying that's an act of MAD, because while the Apple App Store then loses their apps, it means Meta loses all of the customers who aren't going to bother to transition or just switch to mobile web, which is assuredly a non-zero number. Unless they can somehow make it a 100% seamless transition to create and manage yet another user account, it's going to be a hurdle for adoption. Especially if they're not offering anything other than their current apps- that's not enough to entice users to join, if anything that's a negative user experience, Meta is making it harder to use their existing products.

And Google taking G-Suite or other crucial apps off the official App Store? Forget about it, that sounds like prime antitrust fodder for the regulators.

Ultimately, these large corporations tend to run into difficulties playing in each other's sandboxes. Facebook/Google launching third party app stores would be far from a surefire success.