Why OData?

Hi community,

this may sound like a very dumb question, and I am sorry for that, but I have failed to find a satisfying answer to why is SAP so adamant on using OData?

I understand what OData is and what features are defined with it.

What I do not understand is why it's adoption is basically limited to SAP and they seem to keep sticking to it no matter how API implementations of other IT companies look like ( I am not talking about providing it as an optional rendering, like Sharepoint, but OData being the only available choice )