The barrier is inventing and organizing the logistics of delivering the most cutting edge technology and the accompanying software and support to hundreds of millions of people around the world every year.
If anyone else could do it, they would do it. Samsung and Alphabet come sort of close.
LOL, nothing Apple does is cutting edge. They took Linux and made it easy for corporate system admins. Touchscreens were invented back in the 60's. GUI's were created by Xerox.
Steve Jobs was a hack and a douche by all accounts, the reverence people have for him is laughable. But this is the behavior of the oligarchs and the monopolies they run; they have such centralized power that they're able to vacuum up all competitors, even potential or tangential ones.
If your going to troll, have the decency to get your facts straight.
* Edited for clarity