> This is absolutely not true at all, exclusivity agreements are incredibly widespread in supply chains.

I never signed an exclusivity deal to only shop from a single grocery store, I don't think that exists anywhere in the world. But buying an iPhone is effectively an exclusivity deal where you agree to only buy from Apples store. This makes it fundamentally different from other exclusivity deals that are business to business, this is exclusivity on individual customers.

I think the Apple store is the biggest such exclusivity deal on customers in history for a general marketplace. I can't think of anything else, except slavery or where a company owns the whole town and thus all the markets, but a company town is still way smaller scope than the Apple store.