Why Doesn't Apple Host Public Hackathons?

Hackathons are becoming quite popular among developers who are working on apps for the upcoming Apple Watch. The device may not be out yet, but WatchKit has inspired many developers to come aboard. At least two more community-driven Apple Watch-specific hackathons are already scheduled for 2015. None of these events are officially produced by Apple Inc. AAPL, but that might be a good thing. "That's why it's so powerful," Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry told Benzinga. "It is self-started, self-motivated, self-propelling." Apple does play an unofficial role in helping the events become a success, however. "I think the reason [the hackathons are successful] is because the tools are very complete," said Chowdhry. "The tools are fully matured. The ecosystem is very mature. The programming language, Swift, is very mature. Everything is very well glued and gelled."

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Apple's Absence

Unlike Google Inc GOOGL and Facebook Inc FB, Apple has not made a big push to participate in public hackathons. It is not yet known if that will change in July when the world's largest hackathon, Global Hackathon Seoul, debuts in South Korea. "I would almost be shocked if they don't [do them internally]," Sean Udall, CIO of Quantum Trading Strategies and author of The TechStrat Report, told Benzinga. "That's something that if Apple does them, they're not going to publicize them." Internally, hackathons could be a part of everyday life for Apple employees. "If you go back and read the working environment that Steve Jobs demanded of the software guys for years and years, it's almost like the coders at Apple were on a perpetual hackathon," Udall added.

Early Success

Whatever happens next, it's clear that the first WatchKit hackathon was a success. Numerous apps were created, including one that will tell Apple Watch users when it's about to rain. Another app hopes to make it easier to pay for things -- with the help of Apple Pay, of course. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.