The counterexample holds: one frontier chatbot hit 900M+ weekly users with zero pre-installs, no OS default, no carrier deal — quality alone pulled users in, like cross-platform apps in mobile. When workers have both, ~76% pick the frontier product. Research says quality and distribution are sequential: quality wins during category creation; distribution wins once the fight shifts to defaults, memory, permissions. Caveat: billions of 'users' for embedded assistants are forced impressions — reach, not chosen demand, not paid demand. My dials: margin and retention. Still watching.