There's a fairly substantial difference, in that all Apple apps that used private APIs came installed with the device. They weren't competing for a share of the app store market.
Apple is now directly competing for the same dollars as everyone else on the app store, but they're doing so using tools that nobody else is allowed to use.
Apple is now directly competing for the same dollars as everyone else on the app store, but they're doing so using tools that nobody else is allowed to use.