Re: Agreed, there are enough platforms
> Sure, you can use AOSP, but without a competitive substitute for Google Play Services (including such things as Maps, for which Google actually shelled out actual labor to collect), it's going to be a hard sell.
Nokia went down that route, which is allegedly one of the reasons Microsoft bought the company. The Nokia-X (later sold as Microsoft-X) was Android with Microsoft and Nokia services. This was done by Nokia partly because the Microsoft payment to Nokia of one billion per year was ending and partly because Windows Phone 8 was locked into older SOCs that were no longer competitive (as WP7 was before). Going to Android allowed more modern components to be used giving a better range of performance and pricing for Nokia.
Of course Microsoft killed the product after a few months because it was too popular (it was outselling WP), just as they had killed Symbian, Maemo/Meego, Meltemi, and Asha. They then killed Windows Phone leaving the virtual duopoly that we have today.
So, it is primarily Microsoft that caused the problem that they complained about to the EU.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/17/microsoft-killing-nokia-x-android-smartphones