Over the past twenty years, we’ve learnt to take ownership of virtually any digital infrastructure.

But why does mobile software infrastructure still almost never belong to its owner? Is there a fundamental technical reason for this, or is it more a matter of economics, ecosystems and market habits?

I’d be particularly interested to hear the views of engineers who have worked on the architecture of mobile platforms or major mobile products for iOS and Android.

Perhaps I’m simply overlooking some fundamental limitation.