On the other hand, we have basically one single model per year to support. That hardware is used by millions and usually users keep it for 5 or more years.
That's not too big advantage - e.g. the major problems with GPU drivers don't seem to be caused by too many companies producing them (2 or 3 depending on how you count) or too many models (new architecture appears only once every couple of years).
(I won't trust myself to speculate on what is making GPU drivers so difficult to get right)
How is that different from simply picking the best option from some other manufacturer each year and supporting only that? There's no mandate that you need to support every device a company makes.
