I think the problem is point of view: DAZ is primarily a content site that supports a program, where Smith Micro is a program creator. As such, Smith Micro is being extremely short sighted, for continuing users they can make one sale of around $200 for an upgrade a year. DAZ can sell you that much content in a month. Which explains why the bottom line for both companies is quite a bit different.

When Poser came out, the standard was to create the program and let users create the content. Digital Art Zone found a nitch to fill, making products that could be used for that program, and found it so profitable they found they could support programming a whole product of their own.

SM still hasn't woke up to that fact - content sales can not only fully support product development, but can actually be profitable enough it pays to give the program away just for the user base for the content.

Whether they ever wake up in time is open to debate, their current path though is not going to lead to financial success for them.

I don't see DAZ as trying to buy up any competing stores though. I think the owners of RuntimeDNA found there were quite a few advantages to use the services DAZ was offering.

Of course Poser isn't in the position it is in these days because DAZ wants to be a big bad monopolist - it's in the position it is because it really doesn't understand the industry it is in. There isn't any reason they couldn't come up with a Genesis type line of their own, they just don't seem to have the interest.