It does not take an MBA from Stanford to figure this one out. You don’t flip the bird to a government agency that already has its eyes on you. That’s what Apple did last week in announcing its iAd debut when Steve Jobs said it was getting out of the gate with half of the predicted mobile marketing spend for 2010. It flipped off the FTC, which has now apparently stepped up its attention and intention in reining in Apple. But last week’s announcement leaves two major questions in its wake. Why did Apple act in this manner? And what does this all mean for the rest of the mobile marketing world?

There can only be one reason as to why Jobs and crew decided to flaunt the 50 percent number. Managing the FTC is a lot easier than managing Wall Street. Apple must feel the need to brag about its mobile ad prospects for the rest of the year, because stockholders and analysts see it as an important income source for the company over the next three years. What this tells me is that those growth prospects are extremely ambitious and it also tells me that the current level of device pricing and volume is not sustainable.  Apple will not be able to maintain the iTouch as a product line as the iPad continues its trajectory. And it won’t be able to keep iPads at their current pricing levels, which are healthy. A lot of lawyers looked at that Jobs statement before he made it, believe that.  He was bragging to Wall Street and betting he could mollify Washington.

What does this all mean if you’re not Apple? I think there’s good news here. The FTC reacted to Jobs very quickly. I don’t think it will allow Apple to put a headlock on apps or ad platforms. Developers will be able to envision products for Apple, RIM, Windows and Google’s Droid. Advertisers will have at least a little bit of leverage in rate negotiations by having some platform options. And publishers will have options in their pocket as other tablet devices and smartphones hit the market.

Competition is essential for the growth of any business. Every player needs a stake in the growth of mobile marketing and mobile usage. Cool and innovative as Apple’s products are they don’t have a right to freeze anybody out. The only people that can hurt them right now work at the FTC and on Wall Street. Look at last week in that light, and the future of mobile marketing starts to make sense.