There were plenty of free (subsidized to zero) phones available when the iPhone came out. They weren't feature-competitive but they were available, free, and mediocre. From a set top box perspective, this isn't necessarily a differentiator.
However, having a set top box in your home theater stack at home is not as usefully trendy as carrying an iPhone. It's also more setup hassle and has to work with other devices made by other manufacturers, something at which Apple has never been good (wanting to control the whole ecosystem).
However, having a set top box in your home theater stack at home is not as usefully trendy as carrying an iPhone. It's also more setup hassle and has to work with other devices made by other manufacturers, something at which Apple has never been good (wanting to control the whole ecosystem).