This was implied by Duff's use of the word "necessary" [sic]. I believe his point was that it's possible to have features and complexity.
So although you're right that providing both simplicity and feature-richness is not free, the companies that can afford both (assuming the features address actual problems, or even just pain points, that customers have) are going to fare better than those that don't.
So although you're right that providing both simplicity and feature-richness is not free, the companies that can afford both (assuming the features address actual problems, or even just pain points, that customers have) are going to fare better than those that don't.