Like the iPhone is closed while Android is very open? Inn any case, Betamax lost for lots of reasons, including VHS recorded for longer than Betamax did, and cost less.
Actually, I was thinking Flash vs. H.264 and HTML5.
Apple leaned a lot from the original Macintosh days -- they can have their high degree of control and provide user satisfaction by targeting the high end of the market and delivering a total quality of ownership higher than their competitors.
That still leaves plenty of market for other folks. It doesn't have to be a case of "I win, you lose" if each company finds its own niche and nibbles at the edges of the other guys just enough to foster competition.