CEO Tim Cook: With $1 billion in sales, Apple TV is not just a ‘hobby’

The little hockey-puck-sized Apple TV has turned into a big business.

During the company’s annual shareholders meeting on Friday, Chief Executive Tim Cook said Apple TV had generated $1 billion for the company in its last fiscal year.

That figure includes sales of the $99 Apple TV unit as well as the content people are purchasing over it.

“It’s a little bit harder to call it a hobby,” Cook said.

That was a reference to Cook’s previous habit of saying the company considered Apple TV a “hobby” whenever someone tried to prod him into talking about his plans for the device.

There have been rumors swirling that the company has a new version of Apple TV or an upgrade of some kind coming soon. Many developers are hoping the company will open it up so they can write apps for people to use on their TVs via the little box.

And, of course, many Apple fans are still hoping that Apple will come out with a full-blown television.

Cook didn’t address those plans. But he did note that Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and service, had been hard at work steadily adding new content options to Apple TV in recent months.

“I see this just continuing to grow,” Cook said.

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