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Why Apple Doesn't Need To Open AppleTV

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This article is more than 10 years old.

Apple didn’t release a software development kit for its AppleTV set top box Monday. That flies in the face of a widely-repeated story first propagated by Boy Genius Report. It’s also a bit of a puzzler: if encouraging developers to build apps for the iPhone and iPad works so well, why not do the same for AppleTV?

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. No surprise, it doesn’t typically comment on rumors or unreleased products.

Anthony Wood, Chief Executive of Roku, which sells a compact Internet-enabled set top box that competes with AppleTV  has a smart answer to that question, however: Apple doesn’t need to.

“They approach it as an accessory to the iPhone, the iPad, and the Mac,” Wood says of AppleTV. “Their goal isn’t to be their own platform, their goal is to sell more iPads.”

Apple already has a thriving app ecosystem for both iOS, which powers the iPhone and iPad, and OSX, which runs Apple’s notebook and desktop computers. The App Store already has more than 650,000 apps, with 225,000 optimized for Apple’s iPad.

Rather than building yet another set of apps for AppleTV, Apple is tying the iPads and iPhones where it makes its real money -- and their rich app ecosystems -- more closely to AppleTV with features such as AirPlay mirroring, which lets a tablet user put an image up on any television connected to one of Apple's $99 AppleTV boxes.

Roku, by contrast, is a 175 person startup that can’t ride on the coattails of a thriving tablet or smartphone business. It's growing fast -- Wood says Roku generated $100 million in revenues last year, up from $46 million the year before -- but it's still a pipsqueak compared to Apple.

So Wood was quick to open up his platform and push software development kits for the device broadly. The result: there are now 500 ‘channels,’ or apps tailored to the $49.99 video-streamer.

Among the surprises: conservative pundit Glen Beck has built his own channel, and it’s been a hit. Another success: international content; leading to a deal with the Dish satellite network to pump some of its international content through Roku’s box.

Churches have also been eager to build apps for the device. “We didn’t expect that,” Wood says. “We ended up having to create a whole category in our store.”

Want to watch content produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints? Get a Roku. Want to worship at the church of Apple? Get an AppleTV.

Update: Boy Genius Report now says it's told that a Software Development Kit for Apple TV is "coming" despite the no-show at Apple's developer conference Monday. Perhaps. But after talking to Wood, it's clear that Apple just doesn't need one.