Yes I have owned many iPhones and I have known people who have bricked iPhones by installing non OEM batteries.

Maybe you got lucky or the manufacturer cheated and copied Apples chip. Probably the latter.

Which, good for the manufacturer, but kind of goes your whole ethos, doesn't it?

Regardless, none of this is really a secret. You can look it up. Its not a conspiracy - again, companies don't need a conspiracy to be pieces of shit. They can just be pieces of shit. You don't need to go bat for them buddy, I promise they don't care about you.