False dichotomy. The question isn't whether you can make money with a replaceable battery, but whether you can make more money by selling specialized service (or an entirely new phone) than a battery. What else are people going to do, not buy a phone? Switch operating systems entirely?

This whole thing becomes more obvious in the Android world, where models with various features do exist, but only in certain markets

Even then, this whole line of argument seems moot because if the battery still holds enough charge over time the regulations don't even require it to be replaceable

People can, and do, switch OSes. Or use a flip phone.