Apple doesn't want an app in the app store. Apple bans the app from the app store. Flawless victory! It's par for the course with Apple: unusual strategy, perfect tactics.

With all due respect, that's some priceless apologist BS. You still didn't outline the fucking strategic goal being served here with this "perfect tactic". If the course is to stay a major dick in the software world, then yes it is par for the course. But that doesn't make much business sense - does it?

Sorry, I don't know what you mean by "strategic goal". Maybe it's something mushy, like they want to make users feel more confident about what they're getting when they go to the App Store. Or maybe it's just about making metric boatloads of money!

Apple's MacOS runs on a very limited set of hardware. iOS runs on even less hardware. There are very few customization options for the hardware - the iPhone only comes in black or white, for example. And they decide what apps to sell on iPhones. Apple constantly makes decisions that their customers have to live with, sacrificing individuality or personal determination to suit some self-styled tastemakers at Apple.

The result? They have more money than Microsoft and Google combined! I don't buy Apple stuff, I just don't care for it. But to answer your question: yes, it obviously makes "business sense".