Besides the fact that I disagree with some of your observations, it's not really clear what your point is. Are you saying these companies shouldn't try to compete if it isn't in an area where they've already been successful?
The point is not to do "me too" projects, rather bite the bullet and form an alliance with somebody that offers you better tech and in turn entice them to use what you do best and where they can't compete with you. Instead we have Google destroying all its services to propel up Google+, MS killing their desktop OS and destroying Nokia to catch up with mobile, Amazon pushing tablets nobody wants, Apple ripping off Surface stand and stylus in iPad Pro and neglecting its desktop in the process, and even Linux emulating obfuscating windows registry in systemd.
Gotcha, well that's a great point but it's lost in your original post. I agree with most of your examples, except about Apple in regards to both their new AI work and the iPad Pro.
As far as AI work, I personally really appreciate their emphasis on privacy, and that kind of work seems like it would be a lot harder (or nearly impossible) if they were collaborating with another company. I'd rather have a subpar experience and my privacy than a great experience and my data being sold, mined, subpoenaed, or otherwise being made accessible to systems/organizations that I'm not aware of and don't consent to.
As far as the iPad Pro, I don't own one but when I replace my aging iPad I plan on getting a Pro with the pencil and keyboard because 1) these are features I wanted and I don't mind if someone else implemented them first and 2) all the reviews I've seen about them say they nailed it with their own implementation. I don't think they could've done that in collaboration with MS.
