Actually, I think Apple did more than push the operators in a corner. The iPhone was revolutionary, it was the first touch device that actually was user friendly (WinMo and all XDA/HTC/whatever sucked, especially if you had to provide support). Granted, without it other vendors would have gotten there eventually (maybe), but after the 2nd iteration every vendor was scrambling to get there too. The same with tablets : when the original iPad was announced, I was thinking that it would be a niche device. Now I have two of the things lying around the house, and you can get Android tablets for about a 100 euro.
Disclaimer : yes, I use Apple devices (2 iPads, 2 iPhones, a MBP and an iMac in the house), but I can honestly say I'm not a fanboi. The gear is just easier to use, and as for mobile devices I have to support about 80 iPads, 40 iPhones, and 6 Android devices (1 tablet, 5 phones). Guess where most questions are coming from...
AC because the only people I know in the office who read El Reg are the Google Geek Squad :-)