I think the unspoken fear is that if we assume one or the other will "win" in reaching AGI(or whatever threshold of capability), the rest of the world will sooner or later live under their system of rule as a consequence
Not to mention the non-first-party Google TV sticks/dongles. The Onn ones from Walmart range from $15-50 depending on how many bells and whistles you want. I really don't know why one would pick anything else.
I think this cynicism is more borne out of a despair for the average person stuck in all that. They often don't know that there's something else, that you can just Do Things.
This is called consignment and is an industry unto itself, usually for antiques since you need a lot of space. You give them your goods and they sell them. You get a cut if they actually sell.
Obviously they're going to need to liquidate a lot of this stuff. It can be quite lucrative if done right. You're basically getting inventory for free.
I see. Are there other similar projects for other ecosystems? I guess more broadly I'm intrigued by the idea of the decentralized supply chain concept, the way you described it sounds like it was more broadly applicable.