@devu: I'm not sure how you can directly compare 'flash' to 'apple' (or even the iOS with its AppStore) since they're not in the same market segment (yet?). And I wasn't even alluding to apple's solution nor html5 in my post, since there is no drop-in replacement for flash 5 yet.

But what's clear to me is that both companies make use of their ip and legal stangleholds to funnel their customers to a certain condition to improve their strategic positions and minimize competition.