I think Apple's intent is for eSIM support to be universal so they can eventually drop the SIM slot. There's no reason a phone can't handle muiltiple "SIMs" with a single eSIM.
In the meantime, they are serving a market they never served before by offering people who need two SIMs for whatever reason options - at least if one of their desired carriers supports eSIM. As it is a 3GPP standard, support will come to all eventually.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
