It has an excellent toolchain, the best hardware, the best security and has a much better assurance of support for years in a way that no small competitor can offer.
For interface to custom controllers, and back-end databases. Because they solve the software distribution problem; because they have a standard user interface; because they have rich tool support; because you can find developers by the dozens.
I don't really see this - in my experience Apple makes the distribution process more difficult (but I've never published an internal app through App Store) and iOS developers charge more than Android/JS frontend devs and are harder to find (at least in my local market)
Who is comparing this to custom embedded solutions ? Android and Windows tablets are dropin substitutes in this scenario that are cheaper and more flexible.
