I'd spin it a bit differently: it's that if you're going to follow Apple's business model, you have to actually follow its business model, and do it well. Windows Phone struggled in part because Microsoft wanted to have its cake and eat it too: it wanted the advantages of a closed ecosystem (high performance, timely updates, tight integration between devices) but it wanted to offer Windows-like variety by letting other manufacturers build their own devices and offer a bit of custom software. So you ended up with devices that didn't particularly please either camp. Windows phones weren't really open, but that multi-vendor strategy also meant that Microsoft could never really deliver a great self-contained experience. It had to accept a "lowest common denominator" spec list that limited what was possible.
You're definitely right about Microsoft's mindset toward Windows, though. One of Ballmer's big problems as CEO was that he was genuinely convinced everyone loved Windows as much as he did, and the selling point for Windows phones and Surface devices under his tenure frequently boiled down to "because it's Windows." No, Steve, most people use Windows only because it's what comes with the $300 Best Buy clearance special, or because it's what they need to play a new game; Windows by itself is only a selling point to a small group of people. And that seemed to excuse the company's unwillingness to play to its own strengths.