Capitalism works best when there's a wide spread of power and wealth is not too concentrated. There can't be proper markets with monopoly or monopsony.
Just this past week they straight up lied to me about trade-ins. I documented the story here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24486769
acquisition is also innovation. It's a skill, and highly sought after - whether to build or buy. There is someone (or multiple) keeping an eye on inorganic growth via acquisitions. The plan was in place to have Maps etc. So, while building road map or having long term discussions - they decided to get a head-start by going via acquisition route. Remember, they did not stop at acquisition or it did not die because the long term was already in place.