My guess is that Apple is trying to get their stores in front of as many eyes as possible. Because Chromecast is just a receiving platform, and you can't buy any content from it directly, they're not interested in it.
I miss being able to cast things to my Fire Stick. Like a lot.
Apple's working with a bunch of TV makers to add AirPlay 2 support to their TVs
I prefer having my own portable device that I can plug into any display.