Comment: Could a Fitness+Kit API allow Apple to compete against Peloton?

After Apple announced Fitness+, it became the talk of the connected fitness community with comparisons to Peloton. I argued that it only competes with Peloton Digital, but with a Fitness+Kit API, Apple could become a Peloton competitor.

Currently, if a company wanted to build a Peloton competitor, they have a very large capital outlay. They have to build the product but also produce the content. Producing content means hiring trainers, building studios, and building out a production team.

If Apple were to build an API where its content could interact with third-party hardware, they’d become an immediate Peloton rival. This API would be something a start-up fitness product could interact with new hardware. So let’s say that I had an idea for a new way to make a fitness treadmill. I could focus on building the treadmill and include a screen that could be set up to stream Fitness+ content, and an Apple Watch could be a central part of tracking stats. The hardware could be built to interact with Fitness+ for all of the stat tracking that Peloton offers.

For Apple, this API would cement Fitness+ as the most popular content for connected fitness, and it would end up being the main content on a large portion of new fitness products. It would turn Apple’s content into the “Android” of the connect fitness world where Peloton would be a closed system. Apple’s content would be available for any product to integrate it, and those products could build deep integration with the Apple Watch through GymKit.

What do you think about this idea? Would a Fitness+Kit API allow Apple to spread Fitness+ content far and wide?