What I don't understand is why manufacturers were able to do something as crazy as reverse-engineer the lightning bolt encryption mechanisms so they could start selling after-market lightning bolt cables, but something as simple (to my uneducated mind) as reverse engineering a screw driver just hasn't happened.

I would think by now there would be at least _one_ vendor in a country with fewer qualms around intellectual property who would be willing to violate whatever licenses/patents/copyrights there are on this pentalobe screwdriver form, and make them available at a very healthy markup to the many, many iphone/ipad repair shops out there (not to mention those interested hobbyists who would like to open up their own phone)

Particularly if that vendor was already manufacturing an assortment of other screwdriver bits, I would have to believe the marginal additional cost of analyzing these new screws, and creating a screw driver that could map to it properly, shouldn't be that great a challenge.

Are there any mechanical engineers with more knowledge than me who might be able to explain why this hasn't happened?