Apple may scrap iPod Shuffle and iPod Classic


30 Sep 2011

The iPod family

Consumer electronics giant Apple may do away with the iPod Shuffle and iPod Classic to concentrate on touchscreen models, reports say.

Apple is hosting an event on 4 October, where it is expected to announce the iPhone 5 smartphone. Autumn also marks the time when Apple has refreshed its iPod range, but there has been no word of iPods regarding the upcoming event.

However, Apple’s announcing a “product transition” could be within the iPod line. The company’s transition to flash-based memory solutions instead of iPod’s hard drive could be further reason to discontinue the MP3 players, the Telegraph reported.

The iPod Shuffle and iPod Classic are the lowest selling in the iPod range and some of the oldest (the iPod Classic turns 10 this year) still in the market, CNET reported. Sales of iPods made up only 8pc of Apple’s total income in Q4 of 2010.

The first generation of iPod Shuffle was released in 2005.